PlentyOfFish Review
One of the most prominent features of modern society is the fact that everything that we used to do manually is now can be done automatically. Everything we used to do in real life can now be done digitally. With the rapid advancement of technology, this has become more evident in pretty much every sphere of our lives. It includes the most multidimensional ones such as dating.
Nowadays, it is no longer needed to go outside to a public place in order to meet new people. In fact, you do not even have to leave your house to find someone. It is majorly the courtesy of a remarkable number of various online dating platforms easily accessible to anyone who has a smartphone or a laptop. Indeed, there are countless dating sites for any specific taste and purpose. Some of them are more inclusive. The others are known to be more niche. You can choose the audience you are interested in and fully embrace your desires and preferences.
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Why Should You Use PlentyofFish Dating Site?
However, in this vortex of different services there is one that stands out particularly. No matter whether you are new to online dating or have been around for a while, chances are you are familiar with the name. PlentyofFish is the website that has been around for a while and has gained a lot of recognition. In 2011 it was named the highest-ranked dating site in the UK and worldwide. In 2012, it was stated that Plenty of Fish review website was the first US site by market share with 18.57% of the market.
However, even if up to this point you have not had any interest in learning more about the online dating community, you might have still come across the site in the past via pop culture. Since its launch at the beginning of the 00’s, it has appeared in several music videos: in Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”, Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R”, Natasha Bedingfield’s “Touch”, Flo Rida and Akon’s “Available”, and Jason Derulo’s “Ridin’ Solo”. In 2011, it appeared in Britney Spears’s music video for “Hold It Against Me”. Such features only further enhanced the popularity of the platform and brought more new users to it. Is POF a good dating site?
Pros and Cons of PlentyofFish
Pros
- As a rather old online dating website, PlentyofFish has an extensive user base that is rapidly expanding;
- There are a lot of positive Plenty of Fish dating reviews. They claim that they have met real love on the site;
- Messaging is free;
- You don’t have to upgrade to see who has viewed your profile;
- There are multiple fun additional special features;
- You can narrow down your search to the specifics by using the advanced search tool;
Cons
- The safety is not great, so you need to be careful about whom you are going on a date with;
- There are plenty of mildly catfishing girlfriends, slimming themselves in their profile pics;
- You have to upgrade to access a lot of features.
Now, with the introduction of other powerful matching and online dating services, PlentyofFish is not as big of a hot topic as it used to be before. Nevertheless, it still remains a rather highly acclaimed site that attracts a lot of singles to it. But is Plenty of Fish any good really? This review of PlentyofFish dating site seeks to answer this question and provide you with the most comprehensive guide into the site’s functionality, advantages and disadvantages as well as talk about safety on the platform.
What is PlentyOfFish.com
PlentyofFish.com, formerly known as PlentyofFish, is one of the most well-known multinational dating websites on the Internet. It is a Canada based online dating service that was first introduced to the general public back in 2003 and has been present on the market ever since. PlentyofFish positions itself as the industry pioneer, and therefore, has all the related to its status features — a history of successful cases, a number of appearances in pop culture as well as a couple of notorious headlines that caused a great deal of public resonance.
Throughout the years of PlentyofFish existence in the sphere of online dating, PlentyofFish has undergone a large number of changes, starting from barely noticeable functionality updates, to implementing new major features, to the change of ownership in 2015. On July 14, 2015, PlentyofFish was sold to The Match Group, the owner of other big online dating platforms such as Match.com, Tinder and OKCupid, for $575 million.
Users on PlentyofFish
However, even after almost twenty years in the business, the mission of PlentyofFish platform has hardly changed. As originally intended, the main focus of PlentyofFish remains on allowing single people to find their love with the help of the site, regardless of where they are physically located. However, it cannot be said that PlentyofFish site is genuinely international. Unlike other major platforms, PlentyofFishh mainly serves the following areas:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- United Kingdom
- United States.
PlentyofFish Expertise in Online Dating
While it is, indeed, possible to use PlentyofFish in other countries, chances are, you will be exposed to a smaller number of profiles to choose from in those areas that are not listed above. Yet, this is only a relative disadvantage as the cumulative number of accounts registered on PlentyofFish worldwide is 100,000,000 and rising by minute. Moreover, according to statistics provided by both PlentyofFish itself and third-party organizations, PlentyofFish enjoys rather impressive traffic. On average, PlentyofFish site is visited by over 4 million people, with 2 million of them being users who log into the site. Judging by these numbers, it is safe to assume that not only will you not run out of options when browsing through ladies and gentlemen of PlentyofFish site, but it will also not be a problem to find someone special among the wide pool of singles signed up to PlentyofFish platform.
Profile Quality on PlentyofFish
- The largest part of PlentyofFish site members is from the USA — 78 million
- The highest percentage of PlentyofFish site members are around 25-34 years old
- Other age categories have even shares of representation on PlentyofFish platform
- The gender ratio is 40% women to 60% men
From the information laid out above it is noticeable that PlentyofFish site has a pretty even distribution of both female and male members. Moreover, while the most active age group on PlentyofFish site is singles in their late twenties and early thirties, it is still not challenging to meet people both older and younger than that. Just like any other dating site, one of the registration requirements of PlentyofFish is for the new members to be over 18 years old.
What Makes PlentyofFish Special
But what is Plenty of Fish really? In reality, the truth about PlentyofFish is that it can be best described as a mixture of an old school dating site and a matchmaker service. It lies in between those two categories, combining the best features of both worlds. Moreover, as it has been advancing over the years, PlentyofFish has also gradually picked up the multiple innovative features offered by different dating apps on the web, too! At this point, PlentyofFish is a multifunctional online dating platform for people to meet their soulmates and start strong relationships. PlentyofFish is free as you do not have to pay for registration and can enjoy the basic features of the site without spending a coin. However, there are also additional paid upgrades that can better your experience on PlentyofFish.
How Does Plenty of Fish Work?
PlentyofFish is the classic online dating website that allows you to search for people you are interested in and start a conversation with them. One of the best things about PlentyofFish described in many POF reviews is that unlike many other sites, it does not require you to pay for sending or receiving messages to your matches. Moreover, communication is unlimited, so you can send texts back and forth for as long as you wish, even if you have a free PlentyofFish membership. On PlentyofFish site, you need to type your messages as copy-pasting is not allowed.
One of the things that are peculiar about PlentyofFish site is that sending images is exclusive for female users. The reason for such a rule is that male users would abuse this PlentyofFish feature to send unsolicited pictures.
Apart from PlentyofFish site, there is also a PlentyofFish app that is free for download on Google Play, in App Stope and Windows Store. It has all the features PlentyofFish website has, but is much more convenient for those who are used to accessing the internet from their phones (which, apparently, is more that 75% of the PlentyofFish users).
Features on PlentyofFish
There are also a number of additional PlentyofFish features, some of which are exclusive to PlentyofFish:
Chemistry Predictor
You can choose to take one (or several) of the personality tests on the site to help the site get you the best matches.
Nearby
Location-based matching.
UltraMatch
PlentyofFish site suggests you profiles of people you are most compatible with.
Super Yes
You can use this feature to identify that you are super into someone.
Is Plenty of Fish safe?
Safety is one of the most important things when it comes to PlentyofFish online dating. Unfortunately, there are a lot of despicable people out there trying to ruin your online dating experience and make money off your wish to build a relationship through the internet. Of course, it is up to each and every individual user to ensure they do not share any sensitive information with the people they are not 100% sure can be trusted, but it is also the PlentyofFish site’s responsibility to regularly and thoroughly monitor the site in order to detect any suspicious activity and prevent fraudulent actions from taking place. And even more importantly, sites need to take care of ensuring the users registered on the site are imposters who are faking their identity. In other words, scammers and car fish are not an attribute of a legit and trustworthy dating website.
Unfortunately, PlentyofFish is not exactly ahead of the game when it comes to ensuring its members’ safety. While PlentyofFish site does, indeed, use the 128-bit SSL protected payment system in order to ensure no financial information is stolen off the users making transactions on the site, it does not really do anything other than that.
Verification Process on PlentyofFish
There is no verification process on PlentyofFish, which means it is impossible to know for sure whether the person you are talking to is really the one their profile picture shows. Of course, there are some ways of detecting scammers and fakes, but it is more general knowledge than any particular life hacks and top-secret methods. You just need to be aware of what kind of information you are sharing with the person behind the screen, and not to hesitate to break off the conversation if you feel suspicious about who they really are, or simply uncomfortable continuing the chat.
Nevertheless, it would not be fair not to address the notorious cases regarding user safety caused by the lack of moderation on PlentyofFish. There are some Plenty of Fish reviews that claim that the site should better their safety system and put more effort into blocking people who have malicious intentions. In 2017, The Sun newspaper described PlentyofFish as “the most dangerous dating app in Britain” linking it to rape, stalking and assault cases amongst others. However, this issue has been looked into and is being fixed at the moment. For instance, some of the more recent versions of the platform no longer allow its users to contact people who are out of the 14 years’ difference bracket.
How to Get Started On PlentyofFish
Now that you are familiar with all the features PlentyofFish has to offer to its members, and found yourself interested in the platform, it is time to take further action. Hopefully, you have paid close attention to the previously discussed issues regarding user safety that PlentyofFish had in the fast. If you are still willing to sign up to the service and try your luck, here is how to get started on Plenty of Fish.
Create Your Account
Before you go any further into setting up your account, you need to make the initial effort and sign up on the landing page by coming up with a username and a password, stating your date of birth, country, gender, and ethnicity. The subsequent PlentyofFish registration process is not particularly difficult, yet can be somewhat time-consuming. Unlike many other sites that promise you to spend no longer that 3 minutes on setting up a profile and then diving directly into searching for the love of your life, PlentyofFish takes a bit more of your time. However, it is a good thing as the more invested you are in it, the better results you will get!
Fill in the Quationnaire
First things first, you need to fill out a small PlentyofFish questionnaire about yourself and who you are looking for on the site that would later help you get better matches. Once the standard PlentyofFish questions are out of your way, you can start with the fun part, setting up your profile. It is particularly important as it is the way you profile looks and the way you present yourself that will get you matches on the platform. There are plenty of POF dating site reviews, in which its members reveal that they are much more likely to click on the profiles (and subsequently start a conversation with them), if they are filled out sufficient amount and have a good selection of photos and details about the person. Therefore, if you want to be successful on PlentyofFish site, it is essential for you to approach this responsibly.
In fact, the signup on PlentyofFish can be broken down into 3 basic steps.
Create a Catchy Username
The same way your looks count when you are trying to make the first impression in real like, your profile username and headline can make huge difference of PlentyofFish. Indeed, the name you choose to go under on the site, can either make or break your online dating career. You need to think well about what your name should be so that it was appropriate, presented you well and was not appalled by women.
Moreover, you need to also come up with a good headline as this is the first thing that the person deciding on whether to contact you or not sees. If your headline is full of mistakes, or faulty in any other way, chances are you will not be getting a lot of messages. While you should not look like a try-hard, a couple of lines about you and what you are looking for could be a great place to start!
Drop That Bio!
Once you are all done with choosing a username and filling out a headline that would be catching other users’ attention, you can move on to the next stage — completing your About Me box. It is important to give enough details about yourself so that the women you are trying to get on the site would be intrigued by your personality and wanted to contact you. Nevertheless, you should not spill all the info straightaway. First of all, you do not know who will be viewing it. Secondly, you still want there to be a tad of mystery about who you are so that you could tell more once you get to the actual conversation.
Add Nice Photos
This step is vital as a lot of people say that they would rather not talk to those whom they do not see. Therefore, uploading some killer photos can boost your success rates a lot! Choose the best photos that show who you are and what your hobbies are. Then, enjoy the attention you will be getting. Users on PlentyofFish are allowed to upload up to 8 photos if they are using the standard version of the site, and up to 16 if they upgrade.
Once you are done with that, you are good to go! Get down to the best part, searching for your future partner!
POF Free Search
If you choose not to pay for the upgraded version of the site. You can still search for people applying a range of filters to the search. The Basic Search type on PlentyofFish allows you to search in accordance to the following criteria:
- Gender
- Age (from … to …)
- Body type
- The type of relationship sought
- Etnicity
- Education
- Location (country and city)
- Zip
- Distance from you
It is important to remember that you can only contact members within 14 years of your own age. Moreover, you cannot change your birth date. As it is only possible to alter this info within 2 weeks from initial registration.
Apart from that, you can also sort PlentyofFish profiles by ‘last online’ or ‘newest users’. This will save you plenty of time and effort. As you will not accidentally message those users who have not logged in in a while.
POF Advanced Search
Advanced PlentyofFish search is a tool that is a more advanced version of the basic search. The advanced PlentyofFish search engine allows PlentyofFish users to filter their matches based on all sorts of matching criteria. In addition to all the criteria you can tick off in the basic search, you can also choose your preferences from a rather lengthy list of things. It starts from speaking a second language to income to pet ownership.
It is given that applying a number of filters to your search can drastically decrease your pull of matches. However, you can be sure you are compatible with all the people that fit the criteria . So is POF worth paying for? If you do not want to browse through endless profiles and want to cut the chase, the answer is yes!
Conclusion
So, is Plenty of Fish worth it? In this PlentyofFish dating site review, we have covered the main points in regards to the website and its quality. It is indeed worth visiting and having a look around. So now you know all the truth about POF. As highlighted in the pof.com review, there are multiple fun features that can make your online dating experience unforgettable. Hope, this review on Plenty Of Fish dating site was helpful for you. However, you need to remember that since the site is free. So you need to be especially careful to not scam yourself with encountering fakes and catfish.