Excerpt: Symbolic death Perhaps the most persistent claim about apps like Grindr is that, in order for them to live, something else had to die. Grindr has been accused of killing gay bars, gay urban culture, gay sociability beyond hooking up, and even pre-digital forms of cruising (Kapp, 2011; Thomas, 2011; Trebay, 2014; Vernon, 2010; Yiannopoulos, 2012) — a lengthy list of accusations that bring new meaning to the term “killer app.” “I don’t even bother going out anymore,” a 28-year-old Londoner was quoted in one article as saying about the impact Grindr has had on his social life (Yiannopoulos, 2012) — a suggestion that apps like Grindr obviate the need to participate in the traditional “offline” sites of gay culture in order to pick up guys. The article then contends that Grindr’s deleterious impact is most pronounced in cities and neighborhoods with well-established gay scenes.