Be prepared to screen heavily!
Review about Plenty Of Fish (POF)POF isn't a bad place to get your feet wet if you are leaving a long-term relationship and need to "move on" but don't need/want anything too serious.
I've reached the conclusion that if a person wants to find a serious relationship they shouldn't mind spending a little money for a paid site such as match.com... doing so weeds out quite a few of the men just looking for sex and not much more.
So if you do sign up with a free site such as POF know what you are looking for, communicate that clearly, and be prepared to do a lot of screening!!!!
My personal experience is this... upon re-entering the dating scene after a nearly 20-year hiatus, I needed to move on from my marriage... to be frank, I was looking for an ongoing sexual relationship but I wasn't ready to get deeply emotionally involved with anyone.
I had a lot of interest in my profile from the moment I posted it, and from that I basically screened out the players and the posers as best I could and then ended up meeting with about a dozen guys for coffee or drinks, dinner a couple of times... I was mostly upfront about what I was looking for so that's no doubt why I had so much interest!!! I'm a little above average looking - I'm not ugly but I'm seriously not all that!
I seriously wonder if this is the site to find a long-term serious relationship, I didn't talk to or meet many guys who were seriously looking for that, despite the fact their profile stated that they were looking for a serious relationship. I think the guys say that because that's what they think most women want to hear - so whether or not they are seriously looking for a serious relationship they will list it as such. Then again I stated quite clearly in my profile that I wasn't looking for anything deeply emotional at this time... Note, I stated I was looking for dating and a casual relationship in my profile, but most of the guys who contacted me had what they were looking for as "serious relationship" - so women, screen to find out what they are really looking for!!!!
After about six weeks of cofee/drinks/first dates I met the guy I decided to start something up with... that indescribably something feeling was there (we were strongly attracted to one another) and he was similarly in a transitional point in his life, so.... for about 9-months we served one another - and it was all good.
That eventually ran it's course when he cleared out what was standing in the way of him seeking a serious relationship, while I still have months, if not well over a year or two, to go before I get to that point. Besides, by then I think we both knew we weren't suited to do anything long-term together... just differences in life outlook, so we had an amicable parting and that was that - no regrets.
He was exactly what I needed when I needed it so I could never hate on POF for providing the venue to bring us together! Know what your looking for and be upfront about your needs/wants and expectations and POF may help you find a match.
Pros
Good for finding a not-so-serious relationship... it's probably not impossible to find a serious relationship on POF but do know you will have to talk to, and throw back, a lot of "fish" to find the ones who are seriously looking for something long-term. (This is from a woman's perspective.)
Cons
POF has a well-deserved reputation as a pick-up site. You need to screen carefully for the broke blokes trying to pose as doing something with their lives when in fact they are not even working full time and are simply of POF looking for sex and a woman to live off of!