Proximity-Based Gay Apps, Context Collapse, and Queer Identity Negotiation: Ambivalent Experiences of Gay Male Academics on Chinese Campuses

This study explores gay male academics’ experiences using proximity-based gay dating apps on Chinese university campuses. Drawing on interviews with 41 participants, it examines how “context collapse” – the merging of distinct audiences on social media – shapes queer visibility and student engagement in culturally and politically constrained environments. Participants manage their identity by deliberately avoiding app use on campus, curating profiles, and avoiding student interactions, positioning proximity-based gay apps as precarious terrains. Simultaneously, these platforms enable “context collusions,” in which users intentionally integrate distinct audiences or facets of identity for strategic purposes, fostering mentorship, sexual health advocacy, and queer activism. By extending the study of gay dating apps into professional and educational contexts, and framing these platforms as both digital closets and support tools enabled by proximity-based technology, this research advances understanding of context collapse and digital queer agency.