Rocket Magazine

I love the Internet. Sometimes I think that I’m just a bedpan and a feeding tube away from spending every waking moment at my computer. Fortunately, between my job and my friends, I’m forced to pull myself away from hours upon hours of wasting time on Web sites like Wikipedia and Google Earth.

The Internet has evolved since Al Gore invented it back in the day, growing from an esoteric technical tool to a source of entertainment and networking. Some of the biggest and fastest growing aspects of the Internet – aside from porn, of course – are the networking sites. Places like MySpace, Facebook and Friendster became so big, so fast that initially they couldn’t keep up with demand.

Until recently there haven’t been many networking sites exclusively for gay men. Sure, there are places like Adam4Adam, but let’s face it, A4A is more about “getting friendly” than it is about making friends. So there was definitely an available niche waiting to be filled, and DList was created to fill that hole.

DList is like a cross between MySpace and Adam4Adam, but it’s better than both. Unlike MySpace, it’s designed for gay men, and unlike Adam4Adam, it isn’t just about hooking up with Mr. “You will do for tonight.”

Like MySpace, users can create profiles describing their hobbies, favorite books, movies, television shows and other interests. Also, as with MySpace, they can upload pictures and send messages or make a post on someone else’s homepage.

However, it’s got MySpace beat in that it’s specifically designed for gay men and has more of an “edge” to it. For example, the pictures in people’s profiles are a bit more risqué, and you can even put more racy pictures in a private folder only viewable by your “friends.” The pictures in your private folder can be as hardcore as you want, and they aren’t censored by DList.

Also unlike MySpace, it is easily customizable. I’ve always been a little jealous of people with fancy MySpace pages, which assault you with a variety of audiovisual stimuli. When it comes to customizability, MySpace is the DList’s ugly redheaded stepchild. DList is very easy to customize and has built in tools that allow you to upload background art, music and video clips. All the software you need is already there.

If you want to upload songs or videos to your DList page, the tools are also already there for you, and all it takes is a couple clicks before visitors to your page are greeted by a Gwen Stefani video clip.

Changing the look of your page is also easy. Again, with only a couple mouse clicks, you can change the color scheme or add pictures to the background.

I have to admit that my MySpace page is pretty plain. I’ve just never felt like jumping through all the necessary hoops to spice it up, but with DList, jumping through those hoops couldn’t be easier.

Once you’re set up, you can start making friends and building a friends list, posting comments or starting an online blog. DList is a huge blog hub, so you can read many blogs handpicked from the Web by DList staff, create your own or read a friend’s.

You can even use DList to find Mr. Right. There is a search engine you can use to find people with similar interests. What’s nice is that unlike MySpace, you’re pretty much assured that everyone on the site is gay. And unlike A4A, people aren’t only cruising for sex, so you might find someone with a little more depth.

The search ability is definitely a mix of MySpace and A4A. You can search for other people who share your interests in literature, music, film, theater and sports. On the other hand, if you’re on the prowl and would like to do a search for an Asian bottom between 21 and 31, you can do that too. It’s the best of both worlds.

As the name implies, the DList was created to appeal to the average gay man, not just the plastic-looking gym bunnies and underwear models. N.Y.C. producer/ promoter and DList co-founder Daniel Nardicio says: “DListers don’t subscribe to the tired old idea that only men who have pumped-up muscles and a salon tan all year round are hot. The 40,000 DListers who have signed up in the last 10 months are confident in their own bodies, no matter what shape they are, and they’re also confident about who they are as people.”

DList is growing rapidly, largely through word of mouth, and they have recently made investments in infrastructure to handle the 100,000 members expected by mid-2007.

“When we started, I basically said, ‘Lets make it like a MySpace, but for fags,’” says Nardicio. “I wanted to be able to help gay artists get noticed. MySpace doesn’t do that. It’s owned by Rupert Murdoch, so therefore I sort of feel that joining MySpace is sort of helping the right-wing agenda, and I didn’t want to do that.”

DList culture also extends out into the so-called real world. Nardicio is putting his background as a club promoter and producer to work by holding DList events in cities like New York, Toronto, London and Los Angeles. The event in Los Angeles will take place Feb. 25. He wants to set up an event in San Diego in the near future as well, perhaps while he’s in the area for the Los Angeles event.