NoFap
150px | |
Web address | www www |
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Slogan | Get a new grip on life. |
Type of site
|
Private |
Registration | Optional (required to post) |
Launched | June 21, 2011 |
Current status | Active |
NoFap is an online community that serves as a support group for those who wish to avoid the use of pornography, masturbation, and/or sexual intercourse.[1][2] The subreddit currently has over 170,000 members.[3]
Contents
Founding
NoFap was founded in June 2011 by Alexander Rhodes after a thread on Reddit about a study[4] that found that men who don’t masturbate for seven days experience a 45.7% increase in testosterone levels hit the front page of a popular forum on Reddit.[5][6]
After this, Rhodes created NoFap as a "subreddit" forum community on Reddit.[5] At first, NoFap ran weekly and monthly challenges for a small group of people on the forum, and then the NoFap administrators created a badge system, and now forum members set their own challenges based upon their own personal goals.[5]
NoFap.com
Users on NoFap's subreddit more than tripled in number in two years, leading Rhodes to build an off-Reddit forum at NoFap.com and began other plans to better serve the website's fast-growing factions in Brazil, Germany, and China.[7] NoFap.com is a forum-style website where individuals who have committed to abstain from pornography and masturbation for a period of time can talk about their experiences and engage in challenges to help them recover. NoFap.com is the sister website of the Reddit-hosted NoFap community.[8]
Membership
Demographics
The membership of NoFap ranges from atheists, like founder Rhodes, to fundamentalist Christians.[5][9][10] Women are also a part of NoFap.[9] The users of the website call themselves "Fapstronauts".[6] Some porn addicts seek out NoFap for help,[6] while others join the website for the challenge or to improve their interpersonal relationships.[6]
Beneficial effects
After abstaining from porn and masturbation for a period of time, some of NoFap's users claim, among others, "dramatic increases in social confidence, energy levels, concentration levels, mental acuity, motivation, self-esteem, emotional stability, happiness, sexual prowess, and attractiveness to the opposite sex".[5][11] Some NoFap users say their brains were warped by porn, at the expense of real relationships.[12]
Reception and criticism
Some journalists have criticized NoFap, participating in it and then criticizing it.[13][14][15] According to a Elizabeth Brown, neuroscientists have questioned some of the claims made by people on NoFap.[16] One psychologist, David J. Ley, wrote: "I’m not in opposition to them, but I do think their ideas are simplistic, naïve and promote a sad, reductionistic and distorted view of male sexuality and masculinity."[17]
Behavior scientists have used statistics gathered from NoFap to study addiction.[18] Robert Weiss of the Huffington Post sees NoFap as part of a tech backlash.[19]
See also
- Opposition to pornography
- Pornography addiction
- Sex Addicts Anonymous: For those who want to reduce or eliminate their use of pornography, masturbation, and/or unwanted sexual activity.
- Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous: Similar to the above.
- Sexaholics Anonymous: For those who want to eliminate their use of pornography, masturbation, unwanted sexual activity, and/or sex outside of marriage. Has a stricter definition of sexual sobriety than its competitors.
References
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External links
- NoFap.com
- The #1 Threat to the NoFap's Challenges and Porn Addicts by Alexander Rhodes
- Reddit-hosted NoFap Wiki Page
- NoFap on Twitter
- The NoFap Experiment: An In-Depth Look at Porn Addiction by ProjectKnow.com
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- Pages with reference errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Pornography
- Sexual addiction
- Internet forums
- Internet culture
- Human sexuality
- Human sexuality organizations
- Organizations established in 2011
- Support groups
- Sexuality and computers
- Addiction and substance abuse organizations
- Masturbation
- Anti-pornography movements
- Virtual communities