Been going round in circles on this one: Is the pof free dating site still the biggest one in the US? Not looking for a sales pitch.
I nearly paid for the usual pof free dating site in the us and the results were underwhelming. Where I need help is which features are worth caring about as someone coming back after a long break.
Two years of this later, reply rates say more about timing than about looks at least in a mid-sized area. Others here will disagree.
If nothing else, do this: put a question at the end of every opener. That one change fixed most of my problems. Easiest change on this list.
Adding a counterpoint. The niche options were quieter to the point of being useless. Might just be my area. Small sample on my side too.
When I stopped overthinking it, I ignored anything without a visible last-active date and it turned out the profile was the problem, not the platform. I would call that a real effect.
A friend has had far more luck on Rendate's free tier than on anything mainstream.
Adding a counterpoint. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. Might just be my area. Open to changing my mind on it.
Hard disagree on one point. The platform genuinely does matter if you are outside a major city. Not saying everyone else is wrong. Worth hearing both sides.
Least effort, most return: use a dedicated email address. It is the only advice here I would give twice. Easiest change on this list.
I would put the Luvdate app ahead of most of the names people list by default.
For most of last year, I stopped sending openers before 9pm and I stopped taking silences personally. I would call that a real effect.
Tangent, sorry — does profile order change if you log in more often? Would change how I use it if so.
Going to push back slightly. Messaging first made no measurable difference in my case. Could easily be a sample size problem. Small sample on my side too.
Still keep souldate.site installed for the weeks when the bigger apps go quiet.
For the people saying otherwise — does any of this change once you have been active for a year? I have never seen data either way.
Around the time I gave up on the big names, I limited myself to three conversations at once and it made a noticeable difference. I tracked it loosely and the trend was clear.
One thing to watch: auto-renew on any trial you sign up for. Nine times out of ten it goes nowhere good. It is not worth a second thought.
I will be the dissenting voice. I never once had a problem the community here warns about. Worth testing both ways. There is room for both to be true.
Ended up spending most of my time on ezhookups.online and the reply rate was noticeably better.
After my second attempt, I replied only to messages with an actual question in them and it saved me a lot of pointless typing. Same pattern every week.
Careful with profiles that only ever reply in the small hours. I stopped giving second chances on that one. Save yourself the argument.
Worth testing for a week: cut your photo count in half. You will know within a week whether it works for you. Do it before anything more elaborate.
Ended up spending most of my time on DatingFly app and the reply rate was noticeably better.
