POF Review

An average of four million members log on to the site every day, resulting in around 10 million conversations. So, I knew I was going to have a large database of members to tap into. With around 70,000 new users signing up each day, the number of potential matches was only going to increase. I figured that among all these members there were bound to be those seeking all kinds of relationships, whether friendship, casual, dating, or serious relationships.

I was a bit overwhelmed when I saw the extent of what was “required” when signing up. I had to answer a barrage of questions and at least 100 words about myself before I was taken to the next page to upload my profile photo. As the questions were multiple-choice, though, it didn’t take me anywhere near as long as I thought. Although I have to say, some definitely caught my attention, as they were more unique than the questions I’d seen on other dating sites. One, for example, asked me how ambitious I am.

I was also asked to be careful about disclosing information of a more personal nature, like my name, address, and phone number. Once I’d uploaded my answers and bio, I could then add up to eight photos in total. I had to add at least one, so I went with the minimum, with the option of adding up to another seven later. At that stage, I was just too curious to find out what else I needed to do to complete my profile. After completing it, a number of matches showed up on the page, and I could either look through those or enter different search criteria.

When searching for members, I was presented with the usual options to narrow down the results: body type, ethnicity, age, and even the duration of my potential matches’ longest relationship. And if I wanted to, I could have sorted those by the highest income. There was a Nearby option that could show me results of members located within half a mile, and a More Prospects button to continue searching.

I was impressed by some of the matches, and there were a fair number of women who I was interested in contacting. Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult to work out what my options were. Their profiles revealed their username, age, and photo, as well as whether they were online or not. They also told me what interests they have, which is great for breaking the ice. The site even offered me ideas of what to say based on a member’s individual profile. I prefer to come up with something myself, but it was nice to have a fallback option. It’s certainly useful for those who struggle to start a conversation beyond “Hey, you okay? Lol”.

The majority of dating sites limit the ways in which you can contact other members, but this is where Plenty of Fish differs. It’s a great way of testing out online dating without spending any money. And even if you upgrade your membership, you’ll find that you’ll be paying less fees than you would with other sites.

As my profile was in good standing (meaning not flagged as inappropriate or blocked), I could message members for free, with the limit being 55 new people every 24 hours, which is more than enough. The only rule was that I could only message members with an age gap of less than 14 years (it’s 9 years for members under 22).

I was getting a few spam messages, as is always going to be the case on a dating site, but I always had the option of disabling messaging if it got too much. Fortunately, it never reached an unbearable level where I felt the need to do that.

I also learned that it was a good idea to focus messages more on those who have been active on the site within the past week, or preferably even within 24 hours. That way, I was more likely to receive a reply, which would only save me time. Sorting results by those most recently online helps with that, too. That only makes sense, as I could imagine that the more attractive women on POF get bombarded with messages. So, contacting new users gives you a chance of getting them to pay attention to your message before they get overwhelmed with interest.

The advanced search allowed me to filter matches based on all kinds of criteria, such as pet ownership, how many languages they can speak, and whether they own a car or not. The more criteria I specified, the fewer matches I was shown, so I had to forget about trying to find my ideal woman and be less strict with the advanced search option.

One nice trick with the advanced search feature was that it allowed me to save time by creating a templated message for those who met certain criteria, mainly in the specific interest categories. For example, for those who expressed an interest in traveling, I wrote a message that inquired about their traveling experience while talking about my own. I copy and paste it into the message box for every profile that matches my preferences and who have also expressed an interest in traveling.

Sometimes browsing member profiles made me feel like a data analyst, or maybe even private investigator, as there was so much information on there. But it was necessary if I wanted to find the right matches.

I also had the opportunity to take a chemistry test by clicking on “Chemistry” in the main menu. I couldn’t be bothered to answer a set of 73 questions (even though they were multiple questions). It apparently improves match quality, but I felt I’d provided enough information at this stage to ensure I’d get appropriate matches

I chose a username that was as close as I could get to my own name as possible. Sure, I could have chosen a more exciting, or even witty, username, but I didn’t want to look as though I was trying too hard to stand out. My main priority when choosing a username was to avoid going with one that could be a turn-off. When members check messages, the first thing they see is a member’s username. If it’s something like MrBig007, it might turn off a large number of members (and certainly wouldn’t attract the kind of members I was looking for).

I was also tasked with creating a headline. Headlines are also one of the first things that members see when browsing through their inbox, so it’s an area I spent some time on to get right. If a member isn’t put off by a username or headline, the more chance there is that they’re seeing my picture. That’s a good thing, as studies have shown that the more a member sees another member’s photo, the greater affinity they have for that member.

When trying to come up with a headline, I knew I wanted one that was interesting and creative, as well as being easy to scan. Again, I consulted previous research on this, and studies have shown that simple language is more attractive, as people are attracted to words that are easy to recall. At the same time, I didn’t want to come up with something so ridiculously basic that it would make me look lazy. Ultimately, I didn’t want to come across as though I wasn’t taking the process of finding a match seriously.

I visited the Apple App Store to download the app to my iPhone. It’s also available from the Google Play Store for Android users. In fact, I almost wished I owned an Android phone myself when I saw that POF works with Google Assistant. There’s a lot of advertising on the app, but that’s the case with any dating app. It’s one reason that I’m tempted to upgrade to a premium membership, as ads aren’t shown to premium members.

Plenty of Fish likes to boast about the number of conversations on its site and with good reason– there a lot of them. I guess there’s no conversation like a free conversation. That doesn’t mean that absolutely everything is free on the site, however. If another member likes you, for example, the site asks you to upgrade to see who it is. Premium accounts can also see the most recent users on the site.

Newest members are more likely to reply, according to POF, although this isn’t something I’ve tested out for myself as I’m still not 100% sure whether I want to upgrade or not. I’m still testing out the free membership, which is more generous than most dating sites. Although, that doesn’t mean that I won’t upgrade. Another reason I’m considering the premium membership is that I could see even more information on members’ profiles, i.e. their preferences and answers to a few questions.

I could sign up for a month for just $19.99, which isn’t much of a risk; but if I’m going to I sign up, I’d rather take advantage of the longer but more cost-effective eight-month membership that works out to just $9.99 a month. Some of the other main dating sites charge upwards of $40 a month, so signing up with Plenty of Fish is definitely tempting.

I can safely say that I now fully understand why POF has been around for so long. It’s a fun website to navigate around and search for members looking for all kinds of relationships from friendship to romance. Profile matching is also reliable, seeing as there’s so much space to list personal information, such as likes and interests.

There’s a lot of leeway to use the site for free without the need to upgrade. The functions may be limited, but browsing and communicating costs nothing, and upgrading is so reasonably priced.