Which dating site is best? Opinions please..

[MumWithCamera]

I have a male friend who's had a bad time of it with cold-hearted ex-gf last year and he's now single and looking for love. He's signed up to Plenty of Fish but doesn't seem to be having much luck finding Mrs Right.

I dont have any experience with dating sites, so wonder if its this website that's the problem - should he try Match or eHarmony instead? If anyone has positive experiences which sites do you recommend for finding a love-match? So far he's had a few dubious people - one was saying she wanted to come live with him when hadn't even met him and only messaged him twice

Thanks in advance for suggestions - you will (hopefully) be turning my friend's life around and bringing a bit of happiness

And before you suggest it - I am happily with DP and we have a DD together, so I'm not in the running! Just looking to help a friend!

I'm 38 and wouldn't date fifty plus. can they really get women in this age group?

Met my OH on POF.
Only thing I'd say is to go into it with open mind really and a big sieve lol

I do enjoy replying to people whose "looking for" age ends at an age that is younger than their own age and telling them that no, because of this I am not interested in talking to them.

I met my DP on OK Cupid

I like Bumble (pretty much like Tinder but the woman has to send the first message) but it's only worth trying that in a biggish city.

I use bumble. The woman has 24 hours in which to initiate a conversation after a match. No dates so far but looks good.

@Trills I just saw we wrote the same thing

Great minds think alike!

I also agree that Tinder is not just for hookups. People use Tinder for the full range of things it could be used for. It's easy enough to filter out those who want something you don't want, once you get your eye in.

Another vote for Tinder, as someone else said, it's unapologetically honest which, in the online dating world, is a huge relief! My brother met his girlfriend on it (been together a year and now living together) and I'm 4 months into a relationship with a chap I met on there. It's no longer a hook up site (although that option is still available if you wanted to)

I paid for Match and thought it was a waste of time and money. A lot of the women were on POF as well anyway, and I found it equally painful - lots of time wasters and innacurate profiles etc - but at least I hadn't had to pay!

Saying that, I've been with my DP for 4 years now and met her on POF, so it wasn't all bad.

I chose Elite Singles, joined at the beginning of March, went on dates with six different men, but clicked early on with one of them and have been together since. Early days, but going well. It would seem all of the men I met were genuine, just some of them, just weren't for me in the flesh!! Xx

Would not bother with paying sites. OKC best - the matching is good I think. There are fetishists, polyamorous etc but they are upfront about it so no issue. You do have to be patient and sift through a lot and some wont be interested or respond to you. But I had several good dates. Now dating someone lovely from there.

Heard good things of Bumble too.

You say just talk, but :

1. what is your expectations of the number of messages before the ask out
2. assuming you,d given friendly messages to indicate "look: this way"

I find myself asking the same question. I have currently set up Tinder and kept biography short and to the point and uploaded three photos of me which are no less than a month old. Trouble is i get matches but no one wants to seem to meet up in person. I generally delete matches within 24 hours if they haven't said anything or replied to messages as whats the point? I am looking for a long term relationship maybe marriage but should i state that in Tinder or POF?
I don't want to appear desperate but neither do i want to attract time wasters etc. Do any of you who do Tinder swipe left on profiles with no text in but otherwise nice looking people? How long do you generally give people before meeting up in real life? I am very outdoorsy, interested in nature and love animals so i do put that in my profile. I am not interested in the clubbing or drinking culture so i always seem to attract older people which isn't my thing. Should add i am 34. I have joined Meetup.com so i am not relying on meeting anyone via Tinder or POF.

Maybe Tinder is better if you want to cut to the chase and meet people quicker than using websites?

I met The One of mine on mpwh.com...

I met my boyfriend on Tinder but I had to wade through a lot of dross first. I think I met about 15 men in person, and talked to an uncountable number of freaks and idiots, before him. So it can be done but you need to develop a thick skin and clear boundaries. There are a lot of men on there just looking for sex, but they seem to be quite upfront about it. There are also a lot of people on there in relationships, who are just looking for swipes and validation

The personality is the root of the problem. It's always possibles to find at least a hook up on dating sites unless your friend is of a shy type.
And the problem is compounded by the type of folks on match and eharmony. It's only due to my consistency and dedication I managed to get few dates, few hookups but spending almost all the time on exposing different types of scam. It's either a bot or person with fake photo, either someone fooling around out of boredom or some mental freak. The only quiet place on the web I had a positive long-lasting experience with was at www.loveawake.com/. The people there are just normal folks mainly above 25 yo of intelligent and determined type. Hope it'll help :_)
Just encourage your friend to search purposefully and stop being shy)

women should go to crossfit to find a man. Men should go to yoga/pilates. find a yoga studio, get a months pass, and create a fun social life outside of dating and booze...

Online dating sounds like forced fun. And I refuse to meet up with men I haven't met. It's weird. No one speaks about the rapes and murders, they only talk about the my friend found her husband on plenty of fish. gah.

Okaaaaaay

Most people on paying sites are on the free ones too, obviously.

Bumble has been very successful for several people I know, that's in London though. Not sure about elsewhere.

If he is serious and wants a relationship honestly tinder is good.

Huge pool and almost all the women want relationships rather than “fun”

Interesting to re read this as i commented on it when it came out and was single then, had to laugh at POF Blokey Essex man as now four years later i have my partner who i met on POF and yes he is blokey essex man as thats where hes from, he is a lecturer at a university, a biker, into live music gigs, and we have a great time together, so not all POF guys are creeps and weirdos