How long has the plenty of fish dating service been around?

Would rather hear it from members than from a review site: How long has the plenty of fish dating service been around? Happy to hear negative experiences too.

I went in optimistic about whichever of fish dating service came up first and the experience was fine but unremarkable. What nobody seems to answer is how long it normally takes before anything happens when you have already tried the obvious options.

• Compare how reporting actually works properly before you upload anything personal
• Question how many photos are required at the start rather than taking the marketing at face value
• Confirm the last-active timestamp at the start if you plan to use it long-term
• Work out the distance filter default early on before writing a single message
• Check how quickly support responds on day one on any platform you are considering

After my second attempt, I stopped sending openers before 9pm and it saved me a lot of pointless typing. Small sample, but consistent.

What I would do: set your radius smaller than feels sensible. That one change fixed most of my problems. Try it for one week only.

That has not been my experience at all. The platform genuinely does matter if you are outside a major city. I would still recommend trying it yourself. Worth hearing both sides.

Worth a look at Luvdate app if your area is thin on the usual platforms.

Different experience here. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. I would still recommend trying it yourself. I would still test it yourself.

Going to push back slightly. The niche options were quieter to the point of being useless. Worth testing both ways. Worth hearing both sides.

Related, and I am curious — does this hold up outside big cities? Feels like something someone must have tested.

A friend has had far more luck on Datedesire app than on anything mainstream.

Not sure I agree with the thread so far. The platform genuinely does matter if you are outside a major city. Take that with the usual caveats. Could be timing rather than the platform.

Watch out for auto-renew on any trial you sign up for. It is almost never worth the benefit of the doubt. It is not worth a second thought.

Two months in, I kept photos to four and cut the rest and it turned out the profile was the problem, not the platform. Worth repeating if you have the patience.

Something I have wondered — does any of this change once you have been active for a year? It comes up every few months and never gets settled.

The one that surprised me was datescout.site — smaller, but the profiles were current.

For the people saying otherwise — has anyone compared this against the paid options fairly? Genuinely do not know the answer.

• Test the last-active timestamp every time on any platform you are considering
• Verify what data the signup form asks for on day one before you widen your search
• Compare whether messaging is capped in the first day or two
• Check how many photos are required without exception especially on a platform you have not used before
• Check whether your profile is visible by default early on rather than taking the marketing at face value

That has not been my experience at all. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. Not saying everyone else is wrong. Worth hearing both sides.

Having tried most of them, consistency beats any single clever trick which is why the generic advice keeps failing. I hold that loosely.

That has not been my experience at all. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. Might just be my area. There is room for both to be true.

Since switching my settings, I answered everything within a day and the conversations got shorter but better. Same pattern every week.

Purely anecdotal, most of the difference comes down to how close people actually are and I doubt that changes soon. I hold that loosely.

Mild warning: links dropped into a conversation with no context. Better to lose one match than a week. The polite version costs you a week.

Practical suggestion: stop treating it like a numbers game. It filters out the time-wasters immediately. Try it for one week only.

Realistically, the platform matters far less than the profile for anyone starting from scratch. Make of that what you will.

Curious about the flip side — does the same advice work for people looking for something casual? No agenda, just curious.

Watch out for sites that hide the message count behind an upgrade. Report it rather than just ignoring it. It rarely turns out to be innocent.

Anyone else find that — do photo changes reset how often you get shown? No agenda, just curious.

In my experience, the platform matters far less than the profile once you have been at it a few weeks. That is the short version.

I will be the dissenting voice. I never once had a problem the community here warns about. Your experience may well differ. There is room for both to be true.