Are Gay Online Social Networking Sites Replacing Gay Bars?

I sometimes wonder, as I travel from city to city and drop by gay bars and clubs to research what's going on (and enjoy a cocktail or two, of course), whether gay bars are as relevant for travelers today as they were 10 or 15 years ago, when I began writing about them. I haven't conclusively made up my mind about this, and, to be sure, this question has been posed by plenty of others. For many of those travelers who used to rely heavily on gay nightlife for meeting people while traveling, online social networks do the trick, so to speak (we're talking Manhunt (gay men, and very cruisy), Gay.com (good general site for both romantic and platonic connections), Olivia Connect (for lesbians, operated by the esteemed women's travel and tour operator), Gaydar (extremely popular for guys meeting guys, with a stronger following outside the U.S.), DudesNude (gay men, with an emphasis on cruising and sharing racy pics), Connexion (kind of a gay version of Facebook), and so on, plus mainstream ones like MySpace and Facebook - and, yes, I do have profiles on some of these sites, but not telling which...so don't ask). These are useful sites not merely for hookups but for making platonic friends and asking locals for advice about what to see and do. Still, there's nothing quite like venturing out and mingling in person with locals and fellow travelers, and therein lies the ongoing appeal of live gay bars and lounges.

I've visited a number of both new and old gay clubs in cities all around the world over the past few months, and yesterday I posted images and wrote short descriptions of several of these in my Gay Nightlife Gallery. I'll be adding more in the coming weeks. My latest gay bar recommendations are for Quebec City (where I spent the weekend), Miami Beach, Manchester (United Kingdom), Hartford, Salt Lake City, Houston, Cape Town (South Africa), Colorado Springs, and Brooklyn. If any of you have suggestions, especially about new and cool gay or even just gay-friendly bars and lounges that have opened in your area, please e-mail and tell me about them, or comment here on this page. Happy hobnobbing!