Claiming that it anonymously hooks up users with friends on their Facebook profiles, Bang With Friends (BWF) is intended to take the rejection and embarrassment out of the equation and only notifies “couples” once both parties consent.
After signing up for the app, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is displayed across the screen along with the message “Skip the chatting, and get to smacking those cheeks!” and the question “Which of your friends do you want to bang?”
Photos of friends then display on the screen with the “awaiting bang” message beneath their faces. A user then clicks on the picture of friends he wants to “bang” before the button changes from a flushing pink to a daring blue.
The app, which launched last month garnering over 20,000 users in a record four days, is aimed at matching users with would-be partners “who don’t want to beat around the bush”. It claims it registers five new users, or “bangers”, every minute.
The creators of the app, a college trio who preferred to remain anonymous for now, said the app is designed for people in their demographic, made up of college students, recent graduates and Facebook users in their twenties.
While explaining how the app was conceived in an interview with The Daily Beast, the creators said a serious approach to messing around was the whole idea behind it.
The three California-based developers came up with the idea as a way of improving standard online dating sites such as eHarmony and Match.com.
“One night, we were shooting the s*** about how online dating is broken,” said one creator. “What a lot of people want is just to skip all the s*** and get to the sex.”
He said that the conversation evolved to Facebook, used mainly by 18 to 34 year olds, many of whom are in college and use social media to connect with friends.
“It would be great, as guys, if you could find out which girls are actually into you and not dance around anything,” he told The Daily Beast.
AWhois search for the BangWithFriends.com domain name reveals their registration information is blocked, indicating the creators are Web-savvy and have taken an extra step to bury their identities.
According toMashable, the app’s developers said that support for same-sex selections are currently being worked on, as well as an iPhone app for “banging on the go”. They however failed to mention the exact launch date, though they did say they would release the new features soon.
