Just in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day, a new Facebook app is making it easier for users to hook up with their Facebook friends.
The app, “Bang with Friends,” allows users to sign up through their Facebook account and anonymously pick from their friends list whom they would like to hook up with. Both users are only notified if there is mutual interest.
The app also keeps track of votes for celebrities. As of late Wednesday evening, Jon Stewart was leading Stephen Colbert, 300,694 to 294,350.
PandoDaily reported Wednesday that the app has earned 600,000 registered users in the two and a half weeks since it first launched late January. The app has also already generated its share of criticism.
The app’s three California college student creators, all male, wish to remain anonymous for the time being — not out of embarrassment, they told The San Francisco Chronicle, but to take time to prepare for the fame.
The initial lack of a same-sex option upset some users, but that has since been remedied, according to a report by Mashable.
Digital Trends, however, called the app “tacky, tawdry and gross.”
LinkedIn recently killed a similar app built for its social network, “Bang With Professionals.”
The app and its creators have also earned the fiery judgment of the pious.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA, a national college student campus ministry, recently branded the app “the evilest app ever.”
Adam Jeske, associate director of communications for InterVarsity, wrote in a blog post last week his disgust for the app.
“I wonder how many abortions this will lead to, how much heartache Bang with Friends will cause,” said Jeske.
Update: In an email response, the creators of Bang with Friends told TheDC that they think their app resonates with how Millenials approach dating.
“We’re taking an unabashed, more honest approach to dating that especially resonates with our generation,” said the creators with regard to how they think their app will compare to dating sites like Match, eHarmony, OKCupid and Zoosk.
When asked about their long term development plans, they responded, “World domination of course!”
“Long term, we see BWF as helping pairs create honest memories offline (so yes, beyond banging),” they said.