ABSTRACT
This chapter presents to familiarize the reader with these virtual gay bars, #gaymuscle, #gaychub, and #gaymusclebears, and their patrons. It explores the key cultural dimensions such as safety, anonymity, and accountability defining these virtual spaces in an effort to provide a deeper appreciation of how these online spaces function as the locus for queer community formation. Even though offline identities are rarely revealed in public discussions on #gaymuscle, #gaymusclebears, or #gaychub, individual personalities can become well known on these channels. In addition to economic capital, individuals connecting to Internet Relay Chat (IRC) must also possess a particular type of technological knowledge and skill set, in essence, a specific mode of cultural capital, in order to use a computer to gain access to the Internet and the World Wide Web. Thus, it is reasonable to expect individuals interacting on IRC to reflect those segments of the general population with significant access to material and cultural resources.
