As a gay man re-locating to Austin, TX, Dominique experiences hope and destruction through his efforts to utilize geo-social media applications to make new friends, find lovers, and start dating in his new home. This piece explores geo-social media through Dominique’s first-hand account, relaying his story through the lens of affect, intimacy, and belonging.
Dominique Pierre Batiste is a PhD student in the Anthropology Dept. His research involves the ethnographic study of gay male communities in France and the United States, their identity formations as men who have sex with men, and the queer affects, embodiments, subjectivities, world-makings, and senses of belonging that both inform and are informed by these identities.