"Plenty of Fish" Online Dating Site Review

A Review of One of the Best Online Dating Sites

Rae
Rae, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Jul 16, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
I had a problem, and that problem was this: I was a single girl on a college campus where girls outnumber guys 7 to 3. Not a pretty picture at all. My television is constantly spouting ads for eHarmony, Match.com, and a zillion other such sites, so I decided to try the online dating scene. However, I'm a poor college kid. I did not want to pay to see if this was something I even liked, so I looked for a free site. My search came back with a ton of results, but as I waded through them, it because increasingly clear that most of these sites were free to join but charged if you wanted to do much of anything. However, among all the "free" sites, I did stumble across one totally free site - Plenty of Fish.

Plenty of Fish is, as I just said, totally free. The owner supports the site by selling ad space on it. It has no employees and is run out of an apartment, yet it is still one of the best sites out there. First of all, it is fairly simple to make your profile. It asks you to fill in some information about your body type, gender, sexual preference and religion and then allows you to list your interests, write your own introduction, and describe what you'd like to do on a first date. You can upload a picture of yourself (or several) if you want, but it doesn't require you to have one.

Once you've made a profile and gotten on the site, you will discover that there are a ton of great resources. You can either search for matches yourself or you can look at the people Plenty of Fish feels you're most compatible with. In fact, you can have a list of who you're supposedly compatible with emailed to you if you want. If you decide to search for your match on your own, the advanced search allows you to narrow down your criteria to a degree that I have not seen on any other dating site, free or otherwise. It even shows you when the person last visited the site. The search will also only show you people who might be interested in you. For example, I, as a heterosexual woman, will never have a homosexual man show up in any of my searches. The site won't allow it.

You can send email through the site to people who interest you. The email system on Plenty of Fish is one of the best I've seen on any site. You can set filters to only allow certain people to contact you. I, for example, have a filter set so that no one who is married or who smokes can email me. When you send an email to someone, you can choose to attach a virtual rose or gift. You get two roses every month and every time you log on your earn points that can be redeemed for other virtual gifts. If email is not your thing, you can IM people through the site instead. The same filters that apply to your email apply to IM conversations as well.

If you have questions about the site or about dating in general, there is a very active forum you can visit to discuss them. This is also a good way to meet new people on the site and get a feel for what kind of a person they actually are. I find the "ask a guy" and "ask a girl" sections incredibly helpful - they allow you to ask a question directly to members of the opposite sex and get a plethora of genuine answers in a short period of time.

For all the good things Plenty of Fish boasts, it does have a few downsides. If you choose to use the instant messaging through the site, you can only message people who live in the same state as you. While this keeps you talking to people you're more likely to meet, I do not like this feature because I feel that it restricts me too much. I live near a state border and I can't IM people who live half an hour away because they're across the state line. The only other complaint I have against Plenty of Fish is that it forces you to choose whether you're looking for a "man" or a "woman" but does not give you the option to look for a "man or woman." This would be a serious drawback for the bisexual community or for people who simply join the site looking for friends.

Despite these drawbacks, Plenty of Fish is by far the best online dating site I have come across so far. If you want to meet people online, whether for romance or just for friendship, I highly recommend this site. It provides more than most other sites without charging a penny. Best of luck on the online dating scene!

Published by Rae

I am a college student studying music education and psychology. I also enjoy photography, arts and crafts, theology, mythology, and jewelry making.   View profile

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30 Comments

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  • meh 2/19/2011

    I have met some really great guys on plenty of fish. In fact, I'm living with one right now. I needed a place to stay and he had an empty room. Yeah it sounds like a bad movie but in all honesty this guy is great and I feel right at home.. he didn't try to get me into bed or anything. Also, I've met about 5 friends through it who live all around the country and now I have places to stay when I travel.

    You can't blame a site that is public and allows anyone to be on it. If you're a woman and you're on it yourself and you think you aren't a creep.. then there are bound to be men who are on it that aren't creepy as well. Think about all the times creepy men have approached you in a bar or walking downtown? The world is just full of them. So take plenty of fish for what it is.

    And who cares about some dude who roams the forums putting women down? You can block him... or just ignore him all together.

  • Tom 9/20/2010

    Peep1 is a phony

  • Anonymiss 9/13/2010

    My experience with POF wasn't very pleasant. Back in 2006, I had a profile on there. This guy contacted me. His name was Brent. We talked on the phone. He seemed nice at first, but I could tell that he had a short fuse. I've been in abusive situations so I can see the signs. During one of my conversations with him on the phone, I made a joke. I wasn't being mean...I'm simply a very playful person.

    My comment was innocent. However, he took it the wrong way and started screaming at me. His tone was very abusive. When I apologized and told him that I didn't mean it that way, he continued to be very nasty. He snapped, "I don't care how you meant it".

    We continued to talk for a little while, but I decided that I wanted nothing to do with him. I wasn't interested in meeting somebody who acted that way on the telephone. His reaction to an innocent comment, a joke, indicated that he lacked maturity and a sense of humor. I did not say anything offensive...this is what made

  • gixxerguy750 8/18/2010

    Your plentyoffish profile is searchable on Google. It will be cached and available for years even if you delete your plentyoffish account!

  • jo blowski 9/16/2009

    SoldierByte one of Marcus's little communists, is alwys ranting about his x-wifes, comparing women to them and putting them down. If your ever take this soldierbyte boffoon on on and dish it back, he'll attempt to psychologically slaughter you.He gets away with abuse in the forums where I couldn't even defend myself against him w/o getting banned.
    My post that was banned was on the topic of choosing more wisely now that we're older. I posted this comment:

    "Yes, if it protects us from men like you soldierbyte, and others who are immature, evil and misogonysts. Thank you for your cryptic email.Actually I'm flattered by all your diatribe, I would have wondered what was wrong with me if you had liked me.I appreciate knowing you don't."

    That comment got me banned from the forums. Sigh. POF has so many creepies on it. any woman whould have to be downright desperate, stupid, to allow herself to be violated by such horrible guys like this,the owner Marcus and the moderators who allow

  • jo blowski 9/16/2009

    Previous post written by a guest

    "You know the mod pets by the ones who never under any circumstances get any punishment for breaking rules. They can say what they want to whoever they want and break as many rules as they like and will never be punished. The mods that are currently lording over the forums right now have ruined that place. They play favorites and frequently punish you for no reason. For the longest time I had my voting privilages taken away and I had no idea why".
    The same thinb happened to me. I was ripped apart for standing up for myself after some dude who i had never communicated with ripped my profile apart. i was banned for standing for myself. The women who have a 'stand by their guy' attitude are as bad as the guys.

  • jo blowski 9/16/2009

    Plenty Of Fish and Craigs List????? Not safe for women

  • jo blowski 9/16/2009

    I have never seen such rude, degenerate, insulting, low class guys, as I've seen on this site. One handle in particular is 'SoldierByte'.
    OMG any woman's absolute,worst nightmare. He blasts women all the time on the forums and gets away with it. If a woman did the same, she would get 'blackballed'. Plentyoffish must be intimidated by this loser. This little boy of a guy, dude, is a wanna be Sylvester Stylone. But Stalone had manners, this worm crawled out of hell. Hope he goes back. He's so over stuffed with his own machismo, the testerone is dripping, probably can't even get an erection. His so obvious narcissistic, sociopathic, meananderings, really show his hatred of women. If he was all he really boasts to be, he wouldn't have to spread all his phony braggart, obnoxious self. I beleive he is basically insecure, trying to hide behind all this show. By all means avoid this this plague called soldierbyte.

  • am 9/15/2009

    cont.%0D%0Ahe had posted%2C about choosing more wisely after we mature and Oh Gosh%2C just couldn%27t help myself from commenting. My post%2C while not nice%2C was simply read as such%3A %0D%0A%22Yes%2C if it protects us from men like you%2C who are immature%2C evil and misogonysts. Thank you for your cryptic email%2C actually I%27m flattered by all your diatribe%2C I would have wondered what was wrong with me%2C if you had liked me.I appreciate knowing you don%27t%22. %0D%0A%0D%0AWell that comment got me banned from the forums. Sigh. %0D%0APOF has so many creepies on it. any woman whould have to be downright desperate%2C stupid and unappreciative of real men to allow herself to be violated by such %2A%26%5E%26%5E%25%25%24%24%26%28%29%29 %0D%0AOpps%2C please don%27t ban me. %0D%0AI suggest that all %27ladies%27 stay about as far from here as you can.%0D%0A

  • am 9/15/2009

    cont.%0D%0Ahe had posted%2C about choosing more wisely after we mature and Oh Gosh%2C just couldn%27t help myself from commenting. My post%2C while not nice%2C was simply read as such%3A %0D%0A%22Yes%2C if it protects us from men like you%2C who are immature%2C evil and misogonysts. Thank you for your cryptic email%2C actually I%27m flattered by all your diatribe%2C I would have wondered what was wrong with me%2C if you had liked me.I appreciate knowing you don%27t%22. %0D%0A%0D%0AWell that comment got me banned from the forums. Sigh. %0D%0APOF has so many creepies on it. any woman whould have to be downright desperate%2C stupid and unappreciative of real men to allow herself to be violated by such %2A%26%5E%26%5E%25%25%24%24%26%28%29%29 %0D%0AOpps%2C please don%27t ban me. %0D%0AI suggest that all %27ladies%27 stay about as far from here as you can.%0D%0A

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