There have been a lot of market research studies lately about online behavior, and the common findings for the past few years have been fairly consistent in that LGBT folk have been much quicker on the uptake when it comes to adopting new media (blogs, social networking sites, online video, etc.).

But a recent poll's finding that one in five gays in the U.S. has their own blog took even me (who lives and breathes pixels, by this point) by surprise. I knew a lot of folks that visit and comment on AfterElton have blogs dedicated to interests ranging from cult movies to Stevie Nicks to heaven knows what else (and we love you for it, natch), but 20% of gay folks in general? That's pretty awesome.

Anyway, it made me curious: How many of you folks have your own blog? And if you have one, what's it about. You? Entertainment? Politics? Let us know in the poll below, and feel free to drop a comment with a link to your blog, so we can all enjoy.

Luke and Noah will be on As the World Turns today (and I will be here to hold your hands through the tough spots, as usual), but we've actually got a double-dose of Nuke thanks to the new episode of the online reality competition InTurn. In case you haven't been keeping tabs (not that I'd blame you, really), the online series gives a stable of soap wannabes a crack at scoring a 13-week contract at As the World Turns, provided they can shine in a series of daytime challenges that range from giving birth on a parkbench to walking down the aisle.

This week's challenge was the "first kiss" screen test, and the show decided to pair up two of the guys and two of the girls in order to make things more interesting (they left Justin with a lady, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the fact that he is the only male left who doesn't mention a wife or girlfriend in his bio. Just sayin'!). While the boy/girl couple did alright and the ladies really pulled it out (blonde Nell, in particular), the boys cracked and blew the kiss and the scene.

While this was embarrassing enough, what made it even more uncomfortable was the fact that the judges for this challenge were Oakland's Alpha Gay Couple, Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann). Van and Jake don't hesitate to drop the hammer on the guys for wimping out of a very simple challenge, and good for them. But am I the only one who is a bit put off by the talk of the Nuke kiss being "the most talked about" in the show's history? Not to mention straight guy Peyton's mention that even a guy totally "secure in his masculinity" would have trouble with the scene ... uh, do you mean "secure in his sexuality"?

Anyway, you can watch it yourself after the jump and see what you think.

You might remember how in our 2008 Pop Culture Wish List we hoped that we might see an openly gay man as host of a late night talk show. It actually sounds like we might get our wish.

In his latest video blog, out performer Sam Harris announced that he'll be working on a talk show pilot for Lifetime. The show will be based on Harris' video blogs, where he chats with friends and answers fans' questions. Harris will be developing the show with The Class co-creator Jeffrey Kalrik and there's no word yet on how the show will make the transition from online video to cable TV.

I don't always catch Harris's blogs, but the interviews I've seen are wonderfully intimate and natural. I hope they can maintain that quality on his Lifetime show, especially if Harris' guests include performers looking to avoid rehashing the same old anecdotes about the filming of their new movie.

If Harris' pilot becomes a Lifetime series it would be a step forward for gay men. As we noted in our wish list, the only other openly gay man to host am American talk show was Jm J. Bullock's short-lived syndicated show with Tammy Faye, so Harris could end up blazing a new trail for gay men in the USA. (They're well ahead of us in the UK.) We'll keep our fingers crossed things work out for Harris and keep an eye out for news.

Gay panic has been a staple in comedy for decades, but with the release of Wild Hogs and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry last year, and now Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay just last week, it seems like Hollywood is more eager than ever to scrape the bottom of that barrel.

When done right however, it can be inoffensive and actually...funny. The comedy duo of Eli Jorne and Charlie McDowell realize that gay panic works when the joke is about the irrational fear and ignorance of the straight "victim", who ends ups looking foolish. Their short comedy bit Eli & Charlie Have A Sleepover is a perfect example. Eli gets uptight when his bud Charlie asks to sleep over, and well, let's just say it ends with a very special serenade of Seal's Kiss From A Rose.You can see the video after the break, but it does have some salty language, so it's NSFW. There's also another clip of the two called Eli & Charlie Discover a Glory Hole, which involves a... poster of Eddie Murphy, but it's really NSFW.

Btw, after a little digging online, I discovered that Charlie Mcdowell has quite a pedigree. His father is Malcolm McDowell, his stepfather is Ted Danson, and his mother is the fabulous Mary Steenburgen.

Not like that's really too hard, these days. But fans of Luke and Noah (and their real-life counterparts, Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann) and the mechanisms of daytime television might want to keep an eye on the web show InTurn, which awards one lucky aspiring soap star with a 13-week contract on As the World Turns. (Get it? In Turn?)

While it doesn't look like any of the four male contestants is openly gay (three of the guys mention girfriends or wives in their bios), the preview video suggests that they'll be asked to do a guy/guy love scene in one of the challenges, as screencapped above. (From what I can tell, that's Peyton on the left and Michael on the right.)

And Van and Jake are on-hand in some capacity (mentors? judges?), which is never a bad thing. Maybe they'll be there to share their tips on how to inject sexual innuendo into discussion of deli meats or use jumping on the bed like a sugarbombed third-grader as a metaphor for actual physical intimacy? We'll have to wait and see.

InTurn 3 (yes, this is the third season) premieres tomorrow, with new eps posted every Tuesday and Thursday.

Check out the video preview after the jump!

The second episode of the web-only HIV prevention soap opera In The Moment is now online. If you haven't seen this series yet, here's a brief description from the website:

IN THE MOMENT is an online web series that follows the lives of a group of gay guys living in the same apartment complex in West Hollywood, California. Like most of us, they're faced with a huge range of decisions about sex, and the decisions they make impact their lives and the lives of people around them. IN THE MOMENT is also about starting an open, honest conversation among gay guys in the Los Angeles area about these types of decisions.

The new episode is called Disconnected, and like the first episode, features hot guys making some bad decisions. Think of it as a Gay-B-C Afterschool Special, but of course, without Helen Hunt snorting angel dust and trying to fly.

Before you watch the second episode, the first (which features Jesse from America's Most Smartest Model in a rather aggressive role!) is after the jump to get you up to speed ... but warning, it is definitely NSFW!

As a well-informed follower of pop culture (after all, you're reading AfterElton), you're probably familiar with the Rickroll, where a link to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video is sprung on an unsuspecting clicker. You might get an e-mail promising footage of the Nuke kisses taken out of the Valentine's and Christmas episodes of As the World Turns and instead you get a Stock Aitken Waterman single stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

The internet prank reached new levels of prominence recently when YouTube redirected all the videos featured on its front page to the Rickroll video for April Fool's Day. Even The Soup got into the action last weekend, playing a clip from the video after setting the audience up for a LA Ink clip.

Now, a contributor at Pam's House Blend is saying that the origin of the Rickroll is based on homophobic humor. According to the entry, the meme started after a Family Guy episode introduced the song with the words, "Here's a song by a gay guy." Family Guy fans repeated the introduction until it morphed into the Rickroll video. He explains his first encounter with the Rickroll:

I was introducted to Rickrolling by my teenage nephew about a year or so ago. My nephew told me that he and his friends amuse themselves by sending music and video clips of Rick Astley via e-mail, and cellphone.

When my nephew showed me the video of Rick Astley singing Never gonna Give You Up on YouTube, he laughed out loud uncontrolably. Then, I asked him, "Why do you think this is so funny?"

Silence.

Uh, oh. I'd seen that silent response before. My nephew suddenly remembered that his favorite uncle is gay. He was at a loss for words as to how to explain why he finds Rick Astley to be funny.

I had to press him for the truth, "Is it because he looks gay?"

"Uh, it isn't that he looks so gay, Uncle Fritz. It is because, uh, his voice doesn't fit the way he looks."

"Gay?"

Silence.

He suggests a counter-meme, the Bananaramaroll, which would trade Astley's tune with Bananarama's "I Heard a Rumor". The idea of Bananarama going viral makes me pretty happy, particularly since the video has some memorable choreography, hunky guys and has Siobhan, Sara and Keren looking like this:

Still, that makes me look at the Rickroll in a different light. The point of a joke is in the eye of the beholder and while I laugh at the Rickroll for the bland catchiness of "Never Gonna Give You Up" and Astley's hypnotic, cheeseball dance moves, I can see how some people probably do see the joke as "He's so gay." Not because Astley is openly gay (as far as I know he isn't) but because they don't find him sufficiently manly. What do you think? Is there a homophobia at the root of the joke?

(And as a side note, after looking for the images for this post I'll be spending the rest of the day submerged in a world of Stock Aitken Waterman, I can't help it.

Is there not enough gay TV for you? Then maybe you should check out Gayborhood.tv, a site that features a variety of web series focused on different views of gay life, with discussion being heavily encouraged.

My immediate favorite so far is The Box, which started as a collection of gay people speaking their mind at various gay events. However, the tone of the series changes in the third episode, where people talked less about issues and more about the event they were attending. I remember when I was a kid, CBS used to mix little educational segments titled "In the News" amid the commercials -- The Box reminds me of that, giving you a quick view of The Folsom Street Fair, The Gay Rodeo Finals or The White Party in Provincetown.

Urban Safari also seeks out different views of the gay experience, except that this time the focus is on how gay people define themselves. The series has "Tranny Sore-Ass Wreck" Jennifer Justice wandering the streets of West Hollywood and asking people about the "type" of gay person they seem themselves as. While the setting limits how much diversity Justice will find, there's still an interesting mix like the Wolf in training or the Gay Man Trapped in a Lesbian's Body.

Up Close is a series of interviews, each one focusing on a single person. That didn't sound interesting to me at first, but the series finds some interesting subjects and highlights what makes their experience unique. Among the more memorable interviews are Zach, a former Navy officer and religious man, Marcus, a recent college graduate who is still definitely questioning his sexual orientation.

On the other hand, I have mixed feelings about Ben the Ugly Homo, a sharply-edited video blog by a sharp-tongued, Asian, Jewish gay man from the suburbs. Ben can be really funny and engaging in his video blogs (and I really appreciate seeing a gay man of color starring in one of Gayborhood's shows) but his entry on gays and religion left me wondering if he knows enough about the diversity of the gay community to wag his finger at it with authority. That's pretty disappointing considering how Ben had me nodding my head in agreement when he admonished gays who don't care about gay history.

For the most part, I'm enjoying the variety of different types of gay people and gay experiences. There's definitely room for more diversity, but I think there's a lot of potential for the future.