Goose, the invite-only app pitching gay men on something less grimly transactional than the usual swipe-and-grid routine, has found an audience for its friendship-first promise. It has also inherited the same old problems: moderation that users say feels arbitrary, profile verification that did not stop at least one alleged catfish, and a user base some members say does not feel especially inclusive.
WIRED reported that Goose declined to say how many people have joined since launch, while saying members have started more than 250,000 conversations. The company’s pitch is deliberately anti-hookup, or at least less-hookup, but the product is not exactly a monastery with push notifications.
The app can be accessed by invite code or application, according to WIRED. Members can send waves and a limited number of direct messages each day. Goose also includes a live map showing nearby users, neighborhood check-ins, disappearing chats, timed profile photos and screenshot protections. Those mechanics will look familiar to anyone who has spent time on Sniffies, Snapchat, Instagram Stories, Facebook or Raya. The app may reject algorithmic dreck as branding, but it did not reject the app-store parts bin.
Users say the pitch and product do not fully line up
Hunter Lawrence, a 31-year-old hairstylist in Austin, told WIRED he joined because other dating apps had become exhausting and transactional. He said most of his conversations on Goose have stayed tame, although one early exchange turned sexual almost immediately. Lawrence described Goose as trying to become a broader social app rather than a pure dating product.
Erick Hall, a New York City OnlyFans creator with more than 800,000 followers on X, had a different experience. Hall told WIRED he applied with clothed photos and did not identify himself as an adult performer on his Goose profile. One picture showed him lifting his shirt to show his abs. When he returned to the app, he found a notice saying his account had been flagged as inappropriate and instructing him to upload new photos and review the rules. The message said Goose barred nudity, pornography, sexually suggestive vulgar material and commercial sexual transactions.
Hall told WIRED he had been excited by the idea of an app for making gay friends, but deleted Goose after the rejection.
Inclusion and verification are under scrutiny
WIRED also reported complaints from other would-be or former users. One person alleged that photos showing him wearing makeup were rejected. WIRED noted that the app appears aimed at masculine men and does not allow pronouns in bios, though the reporter also found femme-presenting accounts.
Raffy Regulus, a 35-year-old community health liaison in New York City who identifies as nonbinary, told WIRED he saw few Black and Latinx users near him in the Bronx after filtering within 10 miles. He deleted Goose after a week.
Goose cofounder Derek Chadwick told WIRED the company does not make decisions based on identity, gender expression or presentation. Asked about improving the experience for people of color, Chadwick said Goose was built without ethnicity filters, which he described as an exclusionary feature on older platforms.
Verification is another sore point. An X user identified by WIRED as @whatsthattwunk said someone uploaded his shirtless photos to a Goose profile under the name Robert, a 33-year-old attorney in Nashville. Goose requires an in-app selfie to authenticate profiles, according to WIRED, but Chadwick would not describe the verification system, saying that detail could help people bypass it. He said moderators are aggressively handling fake profiles.
Goose has also revised its terms of service after users criticized language giving the company broad rights over member content. WIRED reported that Goose changed the terms on June 30 to narrow that scope. The company still uses member content to train safety and anti-spam models and to develop safety guidelines.
The launch has already carried baggage. In July, WIRED reported that Goose cofounder David Aliagas appeared to have commissioned a network of AI Instagram accounts to promote the app. Goose now has the harder task: proving the humans who did sign up can trust the club they were invited into.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.