August 2, 2015
Hookup App Scruff Celebrates Five Years
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Scruff bills itself as one of the largest gay dating apps in the world. The company celebrated five years of existence last week and SFGN interviewed one of its founders.
"We are extremely excited to be where we are in just five years," said Eric Silverberg via telephone from Scruff Headquarters in Manhattan, New York.
What started as a volunteering effort by Silverberg in his parents' northern California basement has blossomed into an app of choice for more than eight million gay, bisexual and trans men worldwide. Silverberg describes himself as the "guy next door" and a "geek." Together with partners Johnny Skandros and Jason Marchant, Silverberg is the face of Scruff, a top of the line social networking app available on the IOS App Store, Google Play and Windows Phone Store.
Silverberg said Scruff is currently going through a re-write and building from the ground up. New features, he said, are being introduced such as travel advisories and match programs.
An example of such partnerships is Scruff's joining with the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (www.ilga.org) to deliver travel advisories to its members and app users. Scruff claims it will alert members who travel to countries that criminalize same-sex acts.
"We as a brand are not ashamed of sex," Silverberg said. "Sex is an important part of our lives."
Silverberg said he has made lasting friendships through Scruff.
"Sometimes hook-ups lead to much, much more," he said.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
