‘Bang With Friends’ Facebook App the Foundation for Sex Addiction

A new Facebook app is causing alarm, with experts expressing concern about its potential to promote random sex and sex among acquaintances. It could also help create an environment where sex is the focus, rather than real intimacy or communication, thereby feeding the foundation for sexual addiction.

The app “Bang With Friends” uses phrases related to locating others in a person’s Facebook friend network who may want to have sex with “no strings.” Creators of the app established a button that one Facebook friend can select to signal a desire for a sexual encounter.  If a friend also selects it, the two users can connect.

Like other new apps, such as SnapChat, BangWith Friends is quickly gaining a larger user base. Many experts fear minors are accessing the apps and may move from sexting online to more real-world sexual encounters with strangers or acquaintances.  This type of online activity can put teens at risk of encountering sexual predators and STDs.

Young adults accessing sexting apps or apps for casual sex may also have a higher risk for developing sexual addiction, especially when the encounters become a tool for working through negative emotions or long-held emotional intimacy problems. This use of sexual material to “numb out” from relationship problems or stress is believed to be a factor in many cases of sexual addiction.

Additionally, people with deep-seeded self-esteem or intimacy problems may think Facebook-created sexual encounters don’t carry the same risk of closeness, and pursue them more often — thus prolonging destructive beliefs and behavior patterns instead of seeking treatment. Experts also speculate that people using the app may begin seeking only physical encounters rather than genuine relationships.

Sexual addiction, like other drug or chemical addictions, is progressive and requires professional help for recovery.