Sexually Themed Social Networking Site Fosters Sex Hook-Ups Online

Finding sexual partners on the Internet has taken a new avenue with the introduction and growth of Badoo, a social networking site that some are calling similar to Facebook – only geared toward sex. The site joins millions of other Internet sites that experts say are contributing to hundreds of thousands of cases of sexual addiction, also called an "epidemic" by major news outlets.

Popular in Britain, about 33 percent of the Badoo users who participated in a survey said Badoo had helped them find a sex partner that they wouldn’t have met otherwise. The layout of the site is also drawing attention for its blunt approach to sexual hook-ups. As users browse through faces on the page, they can give a response such as "Yes" or "Maybe" in regard to sex, according to an article in The Telegraph.

Privacy settings are also drawing attention to Badoo, with different policies toward sharing email addresses than other social media networks have.

An estimated three to five percent of adults in the U.S. are living with sexual addiction. Symptoms include frequent sex with multiple partners, excessive Internet sexual activity and obsessive thoughts about sex. Contrary to stereotypes, people with sexual addiction lose their ability to control their urges and need professional help to recover.

People with sexual addiction describe the condition as consuming and hopeless, and it is often linked with divorce, cases of child neglect and the loss of a person’s career.

Experts believe the widespread availability of sexually themed sites on the Internet has been a significant factor in ever-increasing numbers of people with sexual addiction.