| abstract
| - The website was created in 1995 when the founder, Jason Finch, wanted a way of keeping in touch with his friends, prior to instant messaging. The membership then increased due to word of mouth in conjunction with a small amount of advertising and PR. Initially the site was for gay men only. In 2003 OUTforWomen was launched. At first the two sites were run separately. Eventually the sites started to integrate. Initially integration was limited, but eventually a decision was made to allow full integration between the two sites. In May 2005 the site was relaunched under the OUTeverywhere name. The relaunch involved a major redesign of the website, as well as full integration between male and female members. The relaunch also indicated a change of ethos moving the website from an online community to a real life organisation operating both online and offline. Part of this change in ethos was to be achieved by calling the site "Up and Doing". However, the relaunch eventually proceeded with the name "OUTeverywhere" after complaints from long-standing members. Before the relaunch of the site, it was claimed on the front page that as many as 30,000 members had signed up over the period in which it had been in existence, though exact current member numbers are confidential and therefore subject to speculation. Members are often internally known as "OUTers". The "online" counter shown on login displays up to 700 users online at peak times, and the welcome screen on the website reports that members organised over 5,000 different social meets through the website last year, which range from large-scale formally organised events, to casual one on one drinks-with-friends in local pubs. There are four or five mega parties a year. Most recently a party was held in Manchester, under the title Moonlighting in Manchester, the next party is scheduled for Nottingham with the title Mega Midlands. And finally there is a Glasgow party in November, OUT also provides staff time and helps co-ordinate various in-house LGBT projects, such as Silence Is Not Golden (SING),[1] providing homophobic and hate-crimes advice in conjunction with UK police websites, as well as offering information, via an SMS service, on how to report hate crimes via those websites. Since its launch, the SING project has seen publicity from both the police as well as other charitable organisations, such as Schools Out, The Rainbow Network, Bully Online, Pink News and the BBC. In late November 2006 the management of the site formalised and posted a set of "house rules" governing members' behaviour bringing it in line with some other sites that clearly state what is appropriate conduct and what is not. The rules are interpreted by online moderators who can ban or suspend members accused of "mean spiritedness".
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