PlentyOfFish Dating Site Review

Overview

Landing on the PlentyofFish.com site is one of the most informative dating sites I’ve ever encountered. They waste no time and start you off at the sign up page with member profiles and pictures on the side to help authenticate the experience. Just to make sure, I clicked on the picture and it took me to a separate page that contained more photos and some information about the member. I was impressed. In addition, the profiles and pictures change if you refresh the page and appear to be geo-targeted. Apparently they did their homework.

Signing Up

The first sign up page is pretty typical where they ask you to create a username and password and provide your birthdate and email address. The second part of the sign up process is more involved. Specifics on your age, appearance, education, marital state, and profession to name a few are asked. You then are asked to fill out your headline, description (minimum of 100 characters), interest field, and your ideal first date (this one is optional).

Overall signing up is not laborious process like some other sites. The next thing you have to do is upload a pictures from your computer, phone, or facebook. You are allowed up to 8 images. After you are satisfied with the pictures you uploaded, u are presented with a list of question from POF “Relationship Predictor” After you answer the seventy three questions, you will be provided with a detailed report about yourself. Your answers will help POF find the most ideal matches on the site. According to their site, this test is based on research done on tens of thousands of couples in relationships.

The report consists of five tabs. The five tabs are the chemistry assessment, needs assessment, psychological assessment, keeper test, and the sex test. The results on the chemistry assessment are from POFs team of PHDs. The majority of the page consist of up to 100 matches they found for you based on your answers. You can then refine the matches based on distance. The remainder of the page tells you about the five dimensions they use to assess your compatibility with another member. The dimensions are self-confidence, family orientation, self-control, openness, and easygoingness.

The self-confidence dimension will determine if you tend to be assertive and competent in both private and public relationships. It will also determine if you may or may not be anxious or reserved.

The family orientation dimension will show what a persons value is towards family. It helps determine if an individual wants kids, are close to their family, and may or may not like to cook at home instead of going out to a restaurant to eat.

The self-control dimension will determine if the person has control over various aspects of their life. The ones with high self-control have strong emotional reactions and attend to specific details. For those on the other side of the spectrum, individuals tend to be more relaxed, even-tempered, and lenient.

The openness dimension helps determines if individuals are open to and dependent on others. Individuals that are more open have a range of interest and likes, and are more concerned with pleasing others. For those on the other side of the coin, they are more opinionated and know what they like.

The easygoingness dimension helps paint a picture of a person’s work ethic and mental flexibility. Those that are more easy-going are broadminded and not affected by change. Those that are less easy going tend to be hardworking and inflexible with change.

The POF Relationship Needs Assessment Test

The next test is called the Needs Assessment test. This test is one hundred questions long. It determines what an individual needs in a relationship across nine factors. The nine factors are interdependence, self-efficacy, communication, sexuality, preferred expressions of affection, intimacy, relationship readiness, conflict resolution, and attitudes about love. Your answers will results in a synopsis of what you need in a relationship on each factor. Basically it’s a guide for understanding and exploring what it takes for someone to be a relationship material with you. It also tells you if specific issues that you tend to under-value or over-value. There are related to your likes and dislikes that are often hiding from your awareness, but can strong affect your relationship decisions.

I have to say that their assessment is very detailed and extensive. They really put a lot of work into it. You have the option of removing the test results from your profile on adding it to your profile. I guess if you don’t concede with the results from your first assessment, then you can take the test again.

Psychological Assessment

The psychological test is not as long. It only consist of 30 questions. After you are done answering if will then give you a synopsis that is titled “The issues that lead to misunderstanding and conflict.” From here POF then gives you suggestions to “What You Say You Want” and “What You Really Want” in your partner. At the end of the page it also gives you keywords to look for in other member’s profiles based on the answers you had given.

Keeper Test

This test is comprised of twenty eight questions in which it will tell you if your love interest is a keeper. There are 8 variables that are used. The person can be Connected, Aloof, Bouyant , Temperamental, Virtuous, Temperamental, Expressive , or Guarded. Connected refers to how strong your love interest bonds with others. Aloof is the opposite where it shows how detached the person is from others. Buoyant refers to how cheerful and agreeable the person is. Temperamental shows how self-absorbed or moody your love interest is. If your love interest is Virtuous then that means they are likely to respect others. On the contrary, if he or she is Indifferent then that could spell trouble for you since they are inclined to be ambivalent or apathetic. If your love interest is expressive then that would mean that they are open and communicative versus being guarded, where there is a tendency to be reserved or private. There are 16 possible combination types of the variables mentioned. The results they come up for your profile come from data collected from over 15,000 people worldwide. Keep in mind that these are just suggestions. Personally I would just use it as a guide and not my source of absolute truth.

Sex Test

The last remaining questions you need to answer are probably the most important because they are related to your style of seduction, basically it’s a sex test. There is an initial total of 41 questions. The first 11 questions involve the type of flirters that appeal to you. Some examples of the type flirters are playful and natural, witty, and sexy. You can leave it blank, select “appeals to me,” or “doesn’t appeal to me. There is another 27 questions after the initial 41. I thought the questions would be stop there but I guess sex is a huge topic such that they want you to answer an additional 98 questions. Of the 98, they would like you to answer the first 18 in your own words. The rest has answers for you to choose. After answering the lengthy questionnaire you will be rewarded with a summary called “Passion Preludes: The Big Picture of Me” which highlights how you are sexually. It is further broken down into three areas. The first step is “How to Approach Me.” Essentially is a summary of the kind of flirt you are, how you pace your interaction, and your dating attitude. The second step is “How to Date Me.” This is where you lay the foundation of how to handle an actual date. This is where suggestions are made in exploring and assessing chemistry on a date. The third and final step is called “How to Sexually Seduce Me.” There is where one’s sexual personality is discussed. POF points out that there are two meta-traits in called Alpha and Beta which reflects our sexual personality. They are Alpha and Beta. Alpha is affiliated with intimacy and affiliation while Beta involves power and dominance. There is also a third trait called “Tiger” where sexual boundaries are pushed.

POF App

You can download POFs app for your iPhone, Android, and Windows 7 Phone. It allows you to access many of the sites features for free. The languages that are supported are English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.

Membership Cost

POF refers subscribing to the site as upgrading. There are three membership plans. You can give it a try at $19.99 for one month. If you choose to try it out for a little longer, there is a four month plan that charges you $12.75 a month for a total of $51. The last membership plan will only cost you $10.18 a month for eight months for a total of $81.40. It’s the best deal out of the three but you are also committing longer. You can either pay by credit card or paypal. They accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Amex. Please keep in mind that POF will automatically renew your subscription for the same period and amount as your current subscription. For example, if you are currently subscribed for four months, then they will renew you for another four months after your subscription is up. Below is a chart of what you get as an upgraded member

Upgraded Features

Show up first on Meet Me Unlock every user's Extended Profile See if your emails were read or deleted Experience POF ad-free. Find out the date and time someone viewed your profile. Massive increase in emails. Number of people viewing your profile triples. Stand out in all searches. Send three gifts per day This upgrade more than doubles your chances of meeting someone. Upload 16 images.

Site Navigation

Navigating the site is fairly easy. Every time you log into your account you are reminded to upload your picture if you still haven’t done so. You are also greeted with ads from different Asian and BBW dating sites. I found it a bit annoying. The only way to get rid of this is by upgrading your membership. I had the tendency to get mixed up with the profiles from POF and the pictures from other adverstisers.

Meet Me

POF has a unique feature called Meet Me. This is where they show you profiles of new and random members and you choose whether or not you would like to meet them. If you choose yes, then it saves that person’s profile in the “users you want to meet” tab. Conversely, you are able to see the profiles of those who want to meet you in the “users who want to meet you” tab. If per chance you select a person that also wants to meet you then that person’s profile ends up in the “Mutual Meet me” tab. There is a rate images tab that allows you approve images of other members if you are bored. It’s basically POFs way of getting you to do their work. It’s an ingenious idea. There are guidelines for approval. Pictures for approval are okay if it is non-nude, not a cartoon, and doesn’t have too much white space. There is a never ending supply of pictures.

Search

There are two ways to search for members on POF: basic search or advanced search. In basic search you are limited to sex, age, ethnicity, profiles with images, intent of dating, body type, education level, location, and the last time a member visited. The advanced search option obviously has more options such as height, eye color, hair color, income, profession, body type, and personality to name a few.

My Matches

Every day POF provides about forty profiles in your my match tab. There are some profiles that have a number one below them. That means that person has at least one interest in common with you. Therefore it’s important to list as many interest as possible.

Profile

When you decide to click on a member’s profile, you will be greeted with the person’s headline followed about details such as their personality, city they live in, ethnicity, education, profession, a little about themselves, details, and their intent. Their interest, if he/she decides to choose any to include on their profile. You have the ability to send them a quick message for free. As you scroll further down, you will see more details such as their marital status, their eye color, has pets, want children, and have a second language to name a few. The About Me section is the next part where the person writes either a lot or a little about themselves. I suggest writing a paragraph and no more. I don’t think people can stand reading more than a paragraph of your profile. Writing too little may be a turn off as well. The only other thing you can see on their profile without upgrading is the “First Date” section. This is where a member gives a brief description of how they imagine their first date. The remaining sections of the profile include “View Our Interaction”, “Extended Profile”, and “Gifts Received.” In order to see the member’s “View Our Interaction” and Extended Profile, you have to upgrade. You also have to upgrade to send a gift.

Conclusion

PlentyofFish.com has a lot to offer compared to the likes of eharmony.com, match.com, and other contemporary singles dating site. The basic features of searching, emailing, and chatting are pretty much similar to other dating sites. POF separated themselves from the herd with their many test. Their process of aligning you with potential dating partners is very extensive and thorough. Granted there is a multitude of test that you take, but they are just trying to help you get a date. Not everyone will have the patience to fill out all the questionnaires, but for the one’s that do; they will have the best chance at a successful dating experience. You could get by as a free member and send as many messages as you want and browse member profile pictures, but you will not be able to see if anyone responded to your message. You will also be bombarded with all sorts of advertisements based on what you usually search for on your browser as free member. If you are okay with wasting your time, then continue as you are. For that are more serious and want be more efficient with their time, then I do not see any reason to not sign up. The monthly cost are minimal. You can even get POF on your mobile devices.