Most importantly, it means that these perpetrators would continue to do as they please. It means that, after one manages to escape a kito scheme, it would be impossible for them to notify other queer men to be aware of the profile whose trap they had just fallen into. However, for other users like myself, what this means is that we won’t be able to run a suspicious profile by some of the directories we know that compiles the identities of confirmed perpetrators. To some extent, that purpose is well-served.įor some gay men in Nigeria who have had their Grindr chats and pictures-shared with confidence on the app-used to blackmail them, having the opportunity to text other men without their chats or pictures getting easily or immediately documented provides some sense of safety.
#Grindr screenshots how to#
The screenshot deactivation, which came along with the expiring photos and picture blurring feature, tips on personal care and guidelines on how to utilize the app’s updated digital functions to chat/hookup up safely, was put up to offer users a heightened level of privacy. In December last year, Grindr, which is one of the most popular dating platform for queer men in Nigeria, released a ’Holistic Security Guide’ to help users in homophobic environments navigate activities on the app while staying safe. I was alarmed by this deactivation mainly because sharing screenshots of profiles we find suspicious are some of the ways queer men in Nigeria can ensure their safety. A country where there are anti-LGBT laws that bans any social queer gatherings, which means that the possibility of meeting anyone in a physical space designed for queer people is slim, enables all sorts of violence against queer bodies and one where the police would rather arrest a violated queer person than bring their perpetrators to book. This toxic trend is kept alive by the zero repercussions homophobia receives in Nigeria. So to be kitoed means to have fallen prey to that sort of, awfully common, scheme. It was built off the long-running culture of homophobes encroaching on strictly queer spaces where they pose as queer men, in a bid to find unsuspecting users to invite over, assault, extort, kidnap and in some cases, kill. Kito is a local slang common within the Nigerian queer circle. I’d intended to simply share it with my people, laugh about it too maybe, but because I live in Nigeria, I easily could have been taking a screenshot of a profile that tried to kito me. When I discovered this deactivation, I too was trying to screenshot an offensive text I’d just received.
RELATED: It’s past time to quell the remnants of queerphobia begat by colonialism in Africa These privileges are fun, although sharing other people’s information off the app with third parties is against Grindr’s usage guidelines, they spice up the dating culture for many queer men but with the screenshot function now deactivated, these privileges really won’t be missed. To capture that absolutely weird or witty bio on an interesting profile, to keep evidence of a chat you and your friends might laugh over when you show them, or to save the picture of someone who you’re not sure about, but who your friends can give you authoritative advice on whether to go ahead with or not. On the surface, taking screenshots on Grindr can serve a few trivial purposes.
Tweet This This essay discusses queerphobic violence
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