“My Community”: Technologies, safer Sex and the ‘Boundaries’ of Young Gay and Bisexual Men’s ‘Personal Communities’

Recent research suggests that men’s relationships with gay communities are changing. This is partly related to shifts in the ways men connect with other men socially and sexually. Technologies for engaging with potential sexual partners, such as online social networks and gay-specific social media, have been cited as key drivers of these changes. These technologies are becoming increasingly embedded in the everyday practices of many gay and bisexual men. Within this changing context, it has been noted that some gay and bisexual men (particularly young men) are ambivalent about ‘gay communities’; this has led some scholars to use the lens of personal communities to explore gay and bisexual men’s personal and social relationships. Drawing from in-depth interviews with young gay and bisexual men across Scotland, this research explores: the role of personal communities in shaping young gay and bisexual men’s understandings of sexual risk and safer sex practices; young gay and bisexual men’s views on how digital technologies impact relationships between themselves and others in their personal communities, and within wider gay communities; and the use of online technologies, by some young men, to challenge the individualizing effects of HIV testing by bringing together groups of men to access HIV testing together