For bad stories and terrible stories read http://www.pofusers.com absolutely hilarious forum created by disgruntled POF users.

I'm a divorced woman in my 40s, currently on POF for about 2 months.  I have found this site to be what you want to make of it:  if you come to it with the right attitude you will easily find quite a number of decent, honest men.  If you have "baggage" i.e., a bad attitude or unresolved issues from your past, it will quickly become apparent to anyone who has contact with you.  There are plenty of good fish in POF who are sincere but it is up to you to be honest and sincere as well.  Also, a little kindness goes a long way on POF.  People really appreciate a response to their emails, even if it is only to say, "Thank you, I'm not interested at this time, I wish you the best in your search."  Short, simple, polite.  But more than anything else, you have to be honest with yourself.  If you are, you will probably grow from this process.  If you aren't, you will leave it bitter and disillusioned.  If you're like me, new to the process, then yes, you will probably start out with unrealistic expectations but that is an opportunity to look deeper at yourself.  If you can accept reality then you will go at this process a little differently, i.e., with more realistic expectations and a much better chance of finding a good match.  The site is very user friendly with a minimal amount of ads that are paying for my free ride so it is okay with me that the ads are there.  If you stick with it you will find out what kind of profile works.  I find that if a profile is too short it's hard to make a decision about whether to contact the person.  If the profile is really long, I'm a little worried they'll talk my ear off.   Have the courage to be very honest and direct about what you are looking for but state it in a positive way.  I really didn't know what I was looking for, at first.  Like I said, it's a process.  You'll learn a lot about yourself if you want to.  Also, it really is a whole lot like the "real" world:  there are people of all kinds anywhere you go.  Just take your time, get to know the person until you feel comfortable before going to the next step.  If you only want to communicate online within POF for a while, that's fine and if the other person doesn't, well, that wasn't the right person.  Take your time, use all sensible precautions, but lighten up, and have fun.  Above all, keep trying!  You'll figure it out.  And for all the people who will inevitably say that I am affiliated with POF in any way, shape or form, other than as a fellow fish, well, so be it!  I'm not.  My experience of POF is probably the same experience I would have on any site.  Attitude is the key!  And yes, I do get discouraged sometimes.  I'm human!  Anyway, best wishes to all!

Hi, I totally agree.  I appreciate your post - it's realistic & postive.  Regards, from female currently on POF

Yep, that's a reasonable approach and exactly what you would expect from a reasonable dating site.  Afterall, you're meeting people, shouldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of people on POF use that approach, so the site dynamic is something other than that. Pretty hard to go against the flow.

POF isn't a particularly good dating site for men because the male:female ratio isn't managed that well.

The high male:female ratio doesn't actually work in womens favor, though it may appear to at first. What typically happens is, guys that are indeed open to relations and bring something to the table can esily fo better elsewhere in terms of meeting women they interested in ... mostly do to the lopsided ratio and how it is managed. I would expect most women therefore ending choosing from large pool of typially less desirable men ... in a number of areas.

There is a very high a quick turnover of the more desirable men on the site, again, because they do better elsewhere. I would think the best approach for women using the site, open to relationships, is to target the men they are interested in and pursue ... before those men just leave the site.

POF was better when music, playlists and videos could be downloaded: the members' personalities were able to shine through the murkiness of botched descriptions written from text messages and fuzzy photos uploaded from cell phones in steamy bathrooms. I understand IM has been removed as well. It seems the only cool features of the site were intentionally removed from the creator himself after he collected cash for membership upgrades (a gold star on their page like the kind a 5 year-old-year gets on his/her drawings at school).

I agree with the other posters that though it is a global site, generally the men are seeking hot dates while the women are looking for long-term relationships, and both only within 75 miles of their residences. Hmm. Anyone ever hear that that Earth is actually round after all. and that no one will "fall off" if they venture too far from home?

Since POF is absolutely free,and easy to sign up then cancel, it is absolutely abused. Plenty Of Fish will be always be Plenty Of Poor Fish until the site loses it extreme diposability. 

I think that too many people feel that they are better than they really are. men bragging that they are highly educated, earn large sums of money and are perfect visualy, does not mean they are a great catch, they may be conceited and show of these attributes. The women trying to score a free meal or some guy to support them, often giving the illusion they are interested until a bigger sucker comes along. maybe giving the man the idea that sex is a possibility if he plays his cards right.

my experiance is not very positive, but that may be my own fault not the women's. I am extremely honest and ask questions based on image and description that often offend women with seeminly unrealistic profiles. I was not looking to date nor looking for sex, just some fun and a little etalk. I state my intentions upfront but still get accused of playing games. I am a well above average looking man and the women that would be interested in me in the real world would not give me the time of day on PoF, feeling that they could do better.

I just think that it is sad that in this day and age we even have dating sites,nothing overcomes that magic when you see a stranger, with all the mysteries about them, for the first time. we should not blame the site for the failings of the users, if you are not honest with yourself then you will not be honest to others.