Grindr as a participant recruitment tool for research with men who have sex with men

Grindr is a location-based online dating application for men who have sex with men (MSM) that has recently been used as a participant recruitment tool in quantitative and qualitative research. This article reviews research studies that used Grindr to recruit participants and focuses on the mode of contact, the nature of research, its benefits and limitations, and recommendations on how to use Grindr for research based on my recruitment experience from a qualitative study conducted in Turkey. Overall, Grindr provides access to participants of diverse characteristics and backgrounds compared to more traditional recruitment strategies like community centers, and it promises to be a useful novel tool to recruit MSM research participants.