What is Plenty of Fish - and who is it for? POF NZ Reviewed

No social media linking needed

POF does not require you to link your social media accounts, such as Facebook or Instagram, to log in.  While it may ask you to link with Facebook to access your photos later on, it is not mandatory. You can maintain a clean split between your social media and your dating life.

Questionnaire about preferences

When you make an account on POF, it requires you to fill out a questionnaire about your preferences and personality.

These questions range from your income to information about your parents and siblings. After adding a brief description of yourself and your interests, along with a photo, you can start looking for matches.

Since you do not have to link any of your social media or provide it on the profile, POF protects giving away too much of your information to potential matches.

Informed decision making is encouraged

Unlike Tinder and OkCupid, the profile provides practical information about the other person, apart from their photos. This helps you make an informed decision about the potential match.

Ban on face filters on photos

You are allowed to add as many as 8 pictures as you want to your profile for free, and 16 as a premium user. However, a unique aspect of POF is its ban on photos with filters.

The idea is simple: “you get what you see”. In effort to avoid catfishing, any modified image is restricted.

Access to extended profile for premium members

When a match views your profile, they will see your hobbies, education, job, description, and the standard that you are looking for. With a premium account, they can access your extended profile, including information about your parents and siblings, religious and political views, etc.

Plenty of Fish users seem to be mainly looking for a relationship, or something more serious... Which makes sense, as most people looking for something casual wouldn’t put in the time to fill out the lengthy registration questionnaire when there are much easier options like Tinder or Bumble around.

People who take POF seriously = people who are looking for something serious (for the most part.)

However, serious does not necessarily mean better. Despite POF’s efforts to minimize catfishing, there are a handful of obvious fake profiles lurking around the app, waiting for someone to fall to their prey - be wary!

The app does offer neat search features that really lets you find what you’re looking for. If the algorithm isn’t providing you with the best matches up front, you can filter through users who match your personal preferences - everything from body type to income and lifestyle choices, POF lets you cut the fluff and get right to the point.

Plenty of Fish is a relatively free dating service, with most features available to all. However, premium membership is available for around 10 NZD a month (8month subscription), or 12,75 NZD / month (4-month subscription) or 19,35 NZD per month (2 months subscription).

Premium members are allowed access to extended profiles of matches, can check the status of the messages they have sent, ensure their message reaches the top of the match’s list, stand out in searches conducted by other POF users and enjoy a completely ad free usage of POF.

How can you pay for POF Premium Membership?

You can choose between credit card and PayPal account as payment options.

How to cancel a premium membership?

To cancel your premium membership on your phone (iOS or Android), you’d navigate it just like you would cancel any other subscription - navigating to your active subscriptions in your iOS or Android app store settings and clicking cancel.

If you’re a web-based user, you can cancel your membership by sending an email to csr@pof.com. Please make sure to include your mail and your e-mail address that you have used when signing up on POF.

Connecting to another match on Plenty of Fish NZ is relatively simple. It works just like regular text messaging.

You can text back and forth with ease for an unlimited amount of time. Not only that, you can also send voice notes through your phone’s microphone as well! This is a feature that other dating sites do not offer.

Special features that help you find the one (for now or forever)

Ultra-match and browsing

Plenty of Fish works in two ways: it provides you with a curated list of matches, and also allows you to browse through all available matches.

The curated list is determined by the algorithm based on your preferences. Most people claim to have found their romantic partner through the recommended matches by POF - the UltraMatch feature allows you to access these lists.

Plenty of Fish also keeps tabs on all the people you are most compatible with through a list called Top Prospects. All the people whom you have contacted and shown the most chemistry with in the last 30 days are listed here.

Chemistry assessments

POF offers other ways for you to make your preferences known to the algorithm, apart from your profile.

You can take a personality test or a chemistry compatibility test. The algorithm then sets you up with potential matches who fall in the categories your test results show you would be most compatible with. Other tests offered include chemistry assessment, needs assessment, psychological assessment, keeper test, and sex test.

Meet Me

Through the MeetMe feature, you can signal that you are up for a meetup and browse local members who might be interested in doing the same. You are presented with profile pictures of other users and are then asked to tick "Yes" if you want to meet them, or "No" if you don't. If you both say "Yes," you become a mutual match and can start chatting and plan your meetup.

SuperYes

This feature allows you to indicate to your match how much are you into them. Simply said, if you like someone more than any other person you have stumbled upon, through SuperYes you can make them know their worth for you.

Location

You can freely set the location from where you want to find people to be matched with. However, like other apps, it also uses your phone service to find nearby matches effectively.

Anti-harassment measures

Since Plenty of Fish has been around since 2003, it has worked significantly to improve the user experience, especially concerning the harassment faced by female users. POF does not allow men to send private images to women.

This measure was taken in response to overwhelming female complaints about receiving unsolicited, sexually explicit images from men. Plenty of Fish protects you from inappropriate content such as spam, abusive language, and pornography. Copying and pasting a text message is also not allowed to prevent spam (and unoriginal people!)

COVID-19 impact on POF dating

Plenty of Fish has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to deal with COVID19 and its unique impediments.

First and foremost, it has made available a vast resource of self-care and meditation strategies. Forums are available for discussions on mental health, with moderators to keep the conversation in check. Members can also now live stream themselves and attend other people’s live streams.

This is unique for a dating app because people are no longer just interacting one-on-one. Instead, a neat little POF community has been established. By clicking on LIVE, singles can live stream with each other or play games together.

Plenty of Fish has also introduced NextDate™ - which works as a speed dating platform. Singles livestream with matches for 90 seconds and then move on to the next. In a time of anxiety and isolation, POF’s unique solution to online dating has been applauded by many.