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Junior
Registered: 2013/06/11
Posts: 16
Plenty Of Fish is a free-ish dating website. I say this because there are some premium (paid) features that one can opt for. Over the last few years these have changed some, but for the most part you can do just about everything you need to to find someone, talk with them, and ultimately meet. Unlike other scam sites (my term for sites like Zoosk), you can actually message people indefinitely. No need to pay.
POF has a rather simple interface, and no fancy colors. This means it's easy to see on both a computer desktop monitor and a phone or tablet. The layout of profiles is very simple, and pictures are decent in image quality limits. The free user can upload 8 pictures, with premium users allows to upload more. Pictures can have captions.
The profile sections are pretty cut and dry, and honestly if someone puts a little effort into it there's a lot to be learned in a profile. If not, then you'll be left with basic stats. For those who want the site to do more work for you, OKCupid might be better as it seems to have a superior method of ranking potential matches.
The POF mobile app is designed well, and operates smoothly. It's easy to move through, and profiles are easy to read. Using the app to update your profile is also fairly straightforward.
POF's user base is large, and worldwide. Searching for people is a fairly easy task, and you have a variety of settings available to make your search as narrow or broad as you like.
The problem with POF is that recent changes by the admin have many people upset, but there is a small core group of users, many who are moderators, who support him publicly. There is a man on this Dating Site Reviews forum who mentions specific female moderators, and he is correct when he points out the troublemakers.
Right now, there is a rather bitter debate on the newest site change. The recent change has it so that you are unable to message anyone +/- 14 years of your age. Most people are upset about this for a number of reasons... some because they feel age is just a number, others because they are upset at the idea that they aren't allowed their choice on who to contact. The general opinion it seems by most users is that they should be allowed to contact whoever, because anyone who signs up is an adult (18+), and that if someone doesn't want people beyond a certain age range sending them messages it should be THEIR responsibility to set those restrictions.
There are some people who are claiming they were in contact with people +/- 14 years and then suddenly were unable to send them messages. One guy had his birthday recently and suddenly a gal he was talking with was not reachable. A couple other women stated that if a woman in her late 40's wants to date a man in his early 30's that should be her decision and not the website admin's. Again it comes back to someone at the top treating members like they are adolescents who can't make responsible decisions for themselves.
This is a recent change, as in within the last month, and unlike any of the other changes, perhaps the most significant change any dating site has ever enacted. It is confusing to most people why this was done. The official reason stated is to keep the creepy old people from messaging the young, innocent ones (that isn't verbatim but that was the reason given).
Of those core moderator females and a few others, a small number of people actually think this is a good thing. They say they're glad. The point they miss is that setting it as an option is better for them and everyone else, because it allows them to restrict things in this way, but also allows others with more open expectations to message each other.
The final bone of contention with many users is that when you try to message someone +/- 14 years of your age, the system tells you "This person isn't accepting any messages from someone your age or gender." This is misleading, because often that person never turned on that feature. It's the system-wide change that decided for them. So it's also misleading.
This is just one of a couple questionably unethical decisions made by the admin with a very weak justification. And unfortunately, it seems all the female moderators are reigning in on some of the complaints being voiced in the site feedback section of the forums (which is supposed to be open to this).
SO... where does this leave POF?
Before this recent age restriction change, I would have told you that POF in of itself was good, because it was simple in design, had a functionally practical mobile app, and it was easy to quickly find out who was a waste of time and who wasn't. I've met a number of people off of POF. But the new restrictions pose a threat to the flexibility of the site, and suggest that the admin's personal views on dating are becoming more important than what people want. Among other restrictions, there no longer is an option for what used to be called "Intimate encounter". I think that's a bad idea, because in his effort to remove people who just want a hook-up, he's forced their profiles to now show up in searches elsewhere. Also, another recent restriction prevents men from sending images in private messages, but continues to allow women to do so. To me, that's sexism in fact, not in opinion, because it's sexism as a system policy.
So what then should you do? Use POF? Well it depends. If you aren't concerned with meeting someone +/- 14 years out of your age, then sure, why not... but then as one user suggested, you might LIST that you want someone within, say, 15 years of your age, but someone exceptional might message you that's a year more distance apart than 15 and could be your soulmate... except POF will prevent you from ever meeting that person.
The idea that a site would prevent you from meeting someone (as opposed to individual users restricting and blocking people) is to me kind of absurd considering the purpose of the site is a dating site.
Are there alternatives? Some... Datehookup works remarkably similar, with no restrictions. The search engine is simpler and the image quality of the user pics is terrible to say the least... there aren't as many categories or other features. But Datehookup is free. Unfortunately, it lacks the same huge userbase that POF still has. Is POF losing people? YES. It's been proven by a couple people who posted statistics. Is it a little or a lot? Maybe somewhere in between, but it's a growing trend. But where are they going?
It's fragmenting things... a lot of them will end up BACK on OKCupid, which is where POF stole most of their users from to begin with. OKCupid is putting in new efforts to redesign things.
Honestly, most of the other free sites have nothing but fake profiles or simply not enough functionality. OKCupid might be a bit too complicated for most people, whereas POF is simpler and easier, but if I had to choose between the two, these new policy changes at POF are making me choose OKC as the new, REASONABLE site to go to.
POF would get 5 out of 5 stars from me were it not for this new trend towards restrictive and biased policies. The absurdity of these recent changes is enough to warrant a loss of two stars. It would have resulted in a loss of three, but the POF userbase is still large enough that for most people they should still manage to find someone and connect through the site.
So... POF gets 3 out of 5.
POF ranking: ***--
Make of that what you will.
POF has a rather simple interface, and no fancy colors. This means it's easy to see on both a computer desktop monitor and a phone or tablet. The layout of profiles is very simple, and pictures are decent in image quality limits. The free user can upload 8 pictures, with premium users allows to upload more. Pictures can have captions.
The profile sections are pretty cut and dry, and honestly if someone puts a little effort into it there's a lot to be learned in a profile. If not, then you'll be left with basic stats. For those who want the site to do more work for you, OKCupid might be better as it seems to have a superior method of ranking potential matches.
The POF mobile app is designed well, and operates smoothly. It's easy to move through, and profiles are easy to read. Using the app to update your profile is also fairly straightforward.
POF's user base is large, and worldwide. Searching for people is a fairly easy task, and you have a variety of settings available to make your search as narrow or broad as you like.
The problem with POF is that recent changes by the admin have many people upset, but there is a small core group of users, many who are moderators, who support him publicly. There is a man on this Dating Site Reviews forum who mentions specific female moderators, and he is correct when he points out the troublemakers.
Right now, there is a rather bitter debate on the newest site change. The recent change has it so that you are unable to message anyone +/- 14 years of your age. Most people are upset about this for a number of reasons... some because they feel age is just a number, others because they are upset at the idea that they aren't allowed their choice on who to contact. The general opinion it seems by most users is that they should be allowed to contact whoever, because anyone who signs up is an adult (18+), and that if someone doesn't want people beyond a certain age range sending them messages it should be THEIR responsibility to set those restrictions.
There are some people who are claiming they were in contact with people +/- 14 years and then suddenly were unable to send them messages. One guy had his birthday recently and suddenly a gal he was talking with was not reachable. A couple other women stated that if a woman in her late 40's wants to date a man in his early 30's that should be her decision and not the website admin's. Again it comes back to someone at the top treating members like they are adolescents who can't make responsible decisions for themselves.
This is a recent change, as in within the last month, and unlike any of the other changes, perhaps the most significant change any dating site has ever enacted. It is confusing to most people why this was done. The official reason stated is to keep the creepy old people from messaging the young, innocent ones (that isn't verbatim but that was the reason given).
Of those core moderator females and a few others, a small number of people actually think this is a good thing. They say they're glad. The point they miss is that setting it as an option is better for them and everyone else, because it allows them to restrict things in this way, but also allows others with more open expectations to message each other.
The final bone of contention with many users is that when you try to message someone +/- 14 years of your age, the system tells you "This person isn't accepting any messages from someone your age or gender." This is misleading, because often that person never turned on that feature. It's the system-wide change that decided for them. So it's also misleading.
This is just one of a couple questionably unethical decisions made by the admin with a very weak justification. And unfortunately, it seems all the female moderators are reigning in on some of the complaints being voiced in the site feedback section of the forums (which is supposed to be open to this).
SO... where does this leave POF?
Before this recent age restriction change, I would have told you that POF in of itself was good, because it was simple in design, had a functionally practical mobile app, and it was easy to quickly find out who was a waste of time and who wasn't. I've met a number of people off of POF. But the new restrictions pose a threat to the flexibility of the site, and suggest that the admin's personal views on dating are becoming more important than what people want. Among other restrictions, there no longer is an option for what used to be called "Intimate encounter". I think that's a bad idea, because in his effort to remove people who just want a hook-up, he's forced their profiles to now show up in searches elsewhere. Also, another recent restriction prevents men from sending images in private messages, but continues to allow women to do so. To me, that's sexism in fact, not in opinion, because it's sexism as a system policy.
So what then should you do? Use POF? Well it depends. If you aren't concerned with meeting someone +/- 14 years out of your age, then sure, why not... but then as one user suggested, you might LIST that you want someone within, say, 15 years of your age, but someone exceptional might message you that's a year more distance apart than 15 and could be your soulmate... except POF will prevent you from ever meeting that person.
The idea that a site would prevent you from meeting someone (as opposed to individual users restricting and blocking people) is to me kind of absurd considering the purpose of the site is a dating site.
Are there alternatives? Some... Datehookup works remarkably similar, with no restrictions. The search engine is simpler and the image quality of the user pics is terrible to say the least... there aren't as many categories or other features. But Datehookup is free. Unfortunately, it lacks the same huge userbase that POF still has. Is POF losing people? YES. It's been proven by a couple people who posted statistics. Is it a little or a lot? Maybe somewhere in between, but it's a growing trend. But where are they going?
It's fragmenting things... a lot of them will end up BACK on OKCupid, which is where POF stole most of their users from to begin with. OKCupid is putting in new efforts to redesign things.
Honestly, most of the other free sites have nothing but fake profiles or simply not enough functionality. OKCupid might be a bit too complicated for most people, whereas POF is simpler and easier, but if I had to choose between the two, these new policy changes at POF are making me choose OKC as the new, REASONABLE site to go to.
POF would get 5 out of 5 stars from me were it not for this new trend towards restrictive and biased policies. The absurdity of these recent changes is enough to warrant a loss of two stars. It would have resulted in a loss of three, but the POF userbase is still large enough that for most people they should still manage to find someone and connect through the site.
So... POF gets 3 out of 5.
POF ranking: ***--
Make of that what you will.
