They have issued a warning to anyone using the networking iPhone application Blendr for casual sex, amidst reports of a rapid rise in "hook-ups" on the Sunshine Coast. The app uses GPS technology to find other users in close proximity and defines itself as "a new way to meet new people".
One man told the Daily yesterday that he had slept with 13 different women in the past three weeks. Dr Christine Knox from the Queensland University of Technology said the increase of random sex partners was frightening. The microbiologist and mother of three adult children said the Blendr app was "terrifying" because it increased the likelihood of casual sex with "people who you know very little about". Having sex with multiple partners is one of the top three factors that heighten the chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, Dr Knox said.
A lot of people think they're healthy and have no infections at all. A year-old tradesman told the Daily he downloaded the app three weeks ago and found it a good way to meet like-minded people. He said he had had sex with a different woman almost every night, but defended Blendr's image as a "sleazy" iPhone app. The Blendr enthusiast said there were many people who used the app to meet people and "not just for casual hook-ups". However from his perspective he was happier to find someone likeminded on Blendr than spend three hours talking to a woman in a bar.
Dr Knox said young people needed to think of long-term consequences that could result from casual sex. The Blendr user who spoke to the Daily said he was conscious of protecting against diseases in the same way he would be if he found romance at a nightclub.
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