Creators Of "Bang With Friends" Say They Just Want To Spread The Love

Last week, we told you about an app that asks you and your Facebook friends if you secretly want to bang each other. The app's (anonymous) creators built it, they say, in two hours.

"Bang With Friends" is blowing up. Over the few days since our story on the app — which lets you select which of your Facebook friends you're "down to bang," and, if they click to indicate they feel the same way, lets you know — was published, 23,000 people have connected to it via their Facebook accounts.

The app's creators, who have requested anonymity for the time being and who email as a collective under the moniker "Online Pimp," have even posted job listings to their site. In the style we've come to expect from Bang With Friends — having known it even just a few days — the creators write that you can send your resumes to "gang@bangwithfriends.com."

We had a lot of questions (most of which were variations on "what?"), so we got in touch with the app's creators to ask them, if at all possible, to explain themselves in a way we might understand. I'm not sure it clarified much.

BuzzFeed: You've requested anonymity, for the time being. Can you share any demographics with me? What should I call you?

Bang With Friends: Three college graduates in California in their twenties.

BF: Guys? Girls? Both?

BWF: Guys.

BF: What were you thinking?

BWF: We don't think that sex needs to be hidden and stigmatized. We believe sex is so taboo and we believe that people should be more honest and forward with each other. We are giving people an easier way to do it, without running the risk of rejection. Our goal is to bring happiness to potential couples by taking down the barriers of intimacy.

BF: Sex is so taboo? Are we on the same internet? No, but I do wonder if an app that has people click "Down to Bang" on each other in "secret" is really consistent with a supposed desire to encourage open conversation. Isn't the fear of rejection a natural reaction to doing something actually bold, whereas this is just hoping all your friends have always secretly wanted to bone you?

BWF: We're giving people a way to find mutually interested intimate partners in a safe way that doesn't damage your friendships, since both people express interest at the same time. Sex is somewhat taboo still in most circles, and we are proponents of being more open about each person's sexual interest. We give our users a way to safely break the ice between two interested friends and find more happiness.

BF: What is Bang With Friends for?

BWF: Banging with Friends.

BF: ...OK! Do you see this app genuinely facilitating more hookups?

BWF: Yes, we've seen over 1,000+ couples hooked up in just four days.

BF: Would you really call those "couples"? I have a hard time believing even 10% of those "match-ups" were in earnest, or will result in some new relationship/sex development. (Three of the 1,000-plus were my coworkers and I, and I can't imagine we were the only ones knowingly clicking each other as a joke.)

BWF: Yes. What our users do with their newly found potential friend-with-benefits is up to them, but we've heard many stories already of BWF happily connecting two lustbirds.

BF: Why aren't same-sex friends showing up as options?

BWF: We built this in two hours and did not expect it to take off like this. We are currently working to include all sexual orientations.

BF: Do you have plans to control for availability/compatibility in the future? I don't want to see my brother on this screen.

BWF: We pushed an update last night — so you shouldn't see your brother or other immediate family members now. We are actively working to improve results.

BF: Facebook shows who else is using the app when you go to download it. Doesn't that kind of work against the discretion you're promising to provide?

BWF: The anonymity we are pushing is between each other — showing that you're using this doesn't mean you want to bang each other. Just that you're interested, and there's nothing wrong with that. Your friends will never be able to see who you're down to bang, or who's down to bang you.

BF: What if nobody is down to bang?

BWF: There's a bang out there for everyone — we believe that!

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