Plenty of Fish Dating Site POF

There's plenty of fish in the sea at POF!  Perhaps you've heard of the internet dating service called Plenty of Fish? It's a free dating website for people of all ages and from all over the world. Plenty of fish (POF) allows you to set up your own free dating profile and then find matches based on a set of compatibility questions you answer. Or you can choose to simply browse based on zip code, religious preference, ethnic background and several other preferences, just like you can on Myspace. The difference here is that Myspace is generally more of a social website while Plenty of fish is a dating site. In other words while many people try to find themselves dates on Myspace, often times the people they contact might not be there for dating. On POF you'll know that at least the people you contact are somewhat serious about dating and open to messages about it. On this webpage you'll gain some insight into how Plentyoffish was created, how easy it is to join and set up a profile and some of the pro's and cons of the dating site!

The free dating website Plentyoffish was started by a young man in his late 20's named Markus Frind, a graduate of the British Columbia Institute of Technology.  Back in 2003, Markus was learning the programming language known as ASP.NET.  In order to learn this language, he chose to create an online dating site, and it became quite popular in his home country of Canada.  Due to the great effects of word of mouth and viral marketing, Plenty of Fish quickly expanded to the UK, Australia, and the United States. 

Markus wanted to make this a free dating website and in order to do so he needed it to generate enough revenue to pay for itself.  To do this he implemented Google Adsense ads on his site and due to the high level of traffic the site enjoyed, it quickly started producing nice-sized checks for Markus, to the tune of millions of dollars a year.  What's most amazing about the story, is Markus (CEO and Founder of Plentyoffish Media Inc) was able to design and run the site pretty much by himself and with the help of his girlfriend.  He enjoyed 10 hour workweeks all while making a nice bit of income, and while working from home.  Isn't that the true dream of most entrepreneurs?

To date Markus has been profiled in plenty of magazine, website, blog and TV news interviews based on the phenomenal success of a free version of a dating website which competes very well with paid dating sites like Match.com.

As previously mentioned, Plentyoffish.com dating site is free to join and use as a basic member. There's been a recently added paid component of the site, but using the free version will be suitable and cost-effective for most individuals. To join you simply head to the website plentyoffish.com and set up your dating profile. You'll be asked for similar things as you are on other social media websites like Facebook or Myspace, such as your date of birth, city/state, body type, ethnic background and then several preference type questions. These include whether or not you have a car (usually helpful in dating), if you have children, if you want children, whether you smoke, do drugs and how often you drink. This helps other members find you based on their preferences!

One of the keys to creating a successful POF dating profile at Plenty of Fish is to make sure you've uploaded at least 2 recent pictures of yourself. Three to five pictures is ideal, because having just one picture on a dating website like POF could really creep out other members. You want to portray yourself as a real person, and not someone using just 1 fake or outdated picture of yourself. Consider using pictures of yourself from recent outings with friends, or on vacation, or doing other fun activities, in addition to a good headshot and as made famous in Napoleon Dynamite, the "full body shot". The object is to let other members know you have style, and also to show who you really are. There's no need to deceive members because it will only hurt you in the dating game.

There's a section where you can list out your various interests such as surfing, baseball, movies, traveling, skydiving, cooking or whatever your hobbies and interests may be. It's important to have some interests listed here, otherwise people may think you simply watch TV 24 hours a day. Consider adding up to 10 interests at least, but don't go overboard with too much info. You basically want to give other members a glimpse of your hobbies and interests but not tell your life story on your profile.

Your profile will also have space to write the infamous "About Me" essay. It's true not many people like to write about themselves, so some tend to write barely anything. Or they write "I hate writing about myself" or "I never know what to say". That's not the best idea. Other people love to talk about themselves and end up writing a novel. Not a good idea either, because rambling could expose you. It's up to you how detailed you are, because the better your description is the more likely your chances for online dating success. Write about your ideal romantic partner, or what qualities you might be seeking in one, as well as some interesting tidbits about yourself that the opposite sex would find attractive.

There's also a section for you to describe your ideal date. It's up to you to be funny, accurate or choose not to write anything here. It doesn't seem like this section would really make or break anyone.

Once you've got your profile tailored to your liking, you're ready to start browsing and finding other interesting people! You can view their profiles, send them a message and see what happens..It's up to you to find those fish, cast your line and try to reel them in!

The alternatives to Plenty of Fish are the various paid dating sites you see on TV all the time like eHarmony and Match.com. Another site is OkCupid, which is also free but its interface and ads make the site a much slower experience than POF is.

As with most social-type websites, there will always be the good and bad. Plenty of Fish is no exception, so here's some of the notable Pro's and Cons.

Pros of Plenty of Fish:

- Free dating site

- Many other members

- Simple interface to use

- Ability to add Imeem music or videos

- Ads dont overwhelm or slow down site

Cons of Plenty of Fish:

- Potentially fake profiles

- Lack of profile design capability

- Poor customer service (members help members in a forum)

A few other words of wisdom for you about this revolutionary dating site. Plenty of Fish offers the ability to block other members from messaging you, but not necessarily viewing your profile. The site used to offer an IM feature but that was removed because it was slowing down the site and members don't really seem to miss it (according to the CEO). You earn points on POF based on your use of the site and other criteria, and those basically can be used to send things like images of alcoholic drinks, teddy bears, puppies and steaks. Possibly a more creative use of points is in the works.

The site also offers members the ability to "favorite" other members and to rate their pictures, which seems like nothing more than a popularity contest, similar to those on sites like Hotornot.com While it can provide some social proof that a person is interesting, fun or valid, it can also show that a profile with hot pictures and little text gets hundreds of favorites regardless of whether or not there's a real person behind it.

Overall, POF is one of the best free internet online dating site services, unlike no other, as it is simple to use and potentially meet interesting new friends and possible romantic connections in your local area.  It may be at the very top as the best no cost personals website. As always when using a socially-based internet site exercise caution when meeting strangers, but with this site you'll find the cliche true that there's "plenty of fish in the sea"!