Craig M.

Sadly, Badoo is just another generic dating site that preys on lonely people.

The site proclaims that the site is free to use which is erroneously misleading and wrong. Sure, you can join the site free of charge and you can look through profiles free of charge but that's all you can do unless you pay. You can't send messages, you can't see who 'liked' you as the people's faces are all blurred, you can't send gifts or a crush and you can't see who added you as a favourite. Therefore, this site is completely useless unless you pay. If I could see who liked me and I was interested in them I'd perhaps be more inclined to possibly pay; seeing a blurred face is not going to get me to part with my money.

The search facility is truly awful with the site having an 'encounter' and 'people nearby' feature with both using very limited search settings. The encounter search is merely a swipe left or right while the people nearby is a search for people within a set distance from your town/city. Encounter uses - gender, age and distance while People Nearby merely uses – gender and age. There's no body size, height, race etc so you have to trawl through countless profiles of people whom you have no interest in.

While using the people nearby search you can add someone as a favourite so you can find them again on your favourites list. However, when using the encounters, you can't add someone to your favourite list and you'll have to trawl through 100's of profiles using people nearby in the hope you can find that person. Why you can't favourite someone using both methods seems a bit ridiculous.

There are some real people on Badoo as my sociopath ex is on there but there's so many fake profiles, profiles with nothing on them and dead profiles that haven't been logged in to for a long time that it's not worth your time and effort.

Overall, I can't recommend this site as it offers very little and is just one more dating site that puts all of its limited features and ability to message behind a paywall. The days of dating sites genuinely trying to be a low cost service to help people find a partner is over and are now nothing more corporate entities that use every method to make as much money as possible.

Bumble tries to be different by having a site where women are the ones who have to initiate contact with a man first, but apart from that it appears to be just one more dating app that's designed to extract as much money as possible, especially when most of the thing's you're paying for are basic elements that should be free.

PROS
None

CONS
+ No one will ever message you.

+ The search facility is none existent and as a man all you can do is swipe right for the women you like and swipe left on the one's you don't and hope that someone likes you back and initiates contact. Women have and will continue to have all the power on dating sites, so why design a dating app that only allows women to initiate communication when in-depth studies have shown most women tend to sit back and merely await interest coming to them, so the theory behind the site is flawed.

+ There are no options to save the profiles of women whom you're interested in, so as soon as you've swiped right, they're gone forever.

+ As a man why would I ever pay for a site that I have no ability to send messages? Why would I pay to merely unblur women's photos who have supposedly 'liked' me when there's a good possibility, I wouldn't be attracted to them or they're fake? I'm looking for a partner, not paying to gamble.

+ So many profiles are fake. A lot of them state they're situated locally or in a nearby town but then their profile reveals they're in a town miles away, or even in a different country.

+ Are there any genuine women on the site? Well, I have had women 'like' me but whom suspiciously never make contact, even though they know the sites designed for them to do so and the men are unable to do so. Personally, I think the so called 'likes' are bait to peak men's curiosity and get them to pay so they can see who is purportedly interested.

+ There are so many profiles where women post their Instagram and Tik Tok addresses who are obviously just trying to increase their social media following rather than looking for a partner.

+ There are prostitute profiles who are advertising their 'services'.

+ And there are so many profiles who state they're single but a quick photo reverse search, or look on Facebook reveals that they're actually in a relationship, so they are either cheating, or are just on Bumble for attention and to mess guys around.

My advice to men is to stay away from this site, as no one will ever message you and there are just too many red flags. Overall Bumble is just a carbon copy of virtually all modern dating apps on the market and really not worth your time or money, especially if you're a guy.

Altscene has more of a social media vibe rather than being a dating site.

PROS
Has a no thrills search facility (gender/country/county/age).

Totally free with no hidden costs.

Site is made for for alternative people.

Has a forum if people want to use it. Though I have seen a lot of bullying and arguments on it.

Has a chatroom (if people want to use it).

CONS
Looks and feels tired, old fashioned and is in desperate need of a major update and revamp. Personally, I think the sites dead in the water and should be laid to rest.

The number of female members is miniscule. The few active accounts belong to the exact same few people who have been on the site for years and the others haven't been logged on to for years.

There's a lot of fake accounts.

The sites housekeeping is woeful and they never delete old profiles that haven't been used for years. If they deleted these profiles it would show there's hardly any active members.

The sites female membership is overwhelmingly young.

There's little individuality - people say they're individuals with their own style and yet all look the same, dress the same, have the same interests, like the same music and try way too hard to be quirky which comes over as overly fake.

If you're a guy then don't expect to get a reply from any message you send.

Too many vain women, narcissists and attention seekers which truly reflects society today!

I joined this site years ago but as I thought it was so poor I never bothered to fill out a profile. Imagine my surprise when years later I started to get messages from beautiful women saying they loved my profile and thought we were a match. Really! I have no description and no photos but I admire the sites attempt to get their hands on my money through this scam. Please steer clear as the sites obviously not legit.

Before I finally gave up and left, I used POF on an on/off basis since 2006 in my attempt to find someone. I mean, how hard could it possibly be in finding someone to date and have a relationship with, being as the thousands of women on POF are supposedly looking for the same thing? How wrong was I?

My personal experiences on POF were truly atrocious. Maybe the fact that it's partly free is the reason why it seems to attract the most lazy, dishonest, arrogant, narcissistic, unfaithful and deeply disturbed women you could ever have the misfortune to meet. I can truthfully say that in all the years of using POF I've never once met even one woman who has been 100% genuine and honest, or has actually lived up to what they've stated about themselves and their intent within their profiles.

PROS
In the early days the site was more user friendly, as it gave you unlimited free messaging but in recent years it was bought out by the Match Group who have implemented changes whereby a user is limited to one message a day.

The site is basic but easy to use. It has the standard search facilities where you can search by gender, distance, age, intent, ethnicity, body type etc.

There is also a 'Meet Me' section which is merely a swipe left or right. However, you have no options to narrow down the type of woman you're looking for, so you have to go through everyone the site decides to display.

The photos on people's profiles are large so you can see them clearly, and the profile design is set out fairly nicely.

CONS
You cannot view the people who have liked or viewed your profile as their photo is blurred…unless you pay.

You're now restricted to one message a day…unless you pay.

You can't see if a message you sent has been read…unless you pay.

The 'Recommend' and 'New Members' options are hidden behind a pay wall.

There's no verification process.

The customer service is poor to none existent.

Site is full of fakes and dead profiles.

Men will NEVER get a reply to a message they send.

Men will never receive a message.

However, the biggest negative issue for me was the women who use the site. I did write all about my experiences but found it was extremely long, so I've kept it short and only listed a few things:

Meeting one sociopath could just be put down to bad luck, but meeting two (one after another) strongly suggests there are a lot of female sociopaths using POF to find new victims.

I briefly spoke to a woman who openly admitted she was on the rebound and using men for her own gratification and amusement and that she had zero interest in a relationship.

I've spoken to a couple of women who were proudly cheating on their partners.

A women messaged and started a conversation only for them to suddenly block me and disappear without a word. I wouldn't mind if they had changed their minds and had told me but women treat men like dirt and are too arrogant to actually be up front with you.

Women moan about men not making any effort and demand they write a decent message but then when you do it's merely ignored and they continue to moan that men don't make an effort.

The majority of women's profiles are either blank, contain little to no description of themselves or just contain a photo, as they're lazy and know attention will come to them just because of their gender and looks.

I've seen numerous profiles that contain lists of ridiculous demands that men have to be to even be considered. Weirdly these often come from women who are overweight with average looks and a tribe of young kids, so aren't exactly offering much themselves. I'm sorry ladies, but you're not going to bag yourself a 6ft 5" guy with model looks, six pack abs and a six-figure salary on POF.

Too many men hating profiles!

So many women display their TikTok & Instagram addresses, so are obviously only on POF to enhance their social media following!

Men – As harsh as it sounds you really have little to no chance in meeting anyone on POF, unless it's a sociopath, an entitled brat full of demands, or someone who is already in a relationship. You'll be expected to jump through hoops and put in a lot of effort and time in to crafting messages and making a decent profile but will get absolutely nothing in return.

Women - If you want a lot of attention and an ego stroke without having to put in any effort, or you're a predatory sociopath who is looking for men to manipulate and use then this is the place for you. Remember, you're the ones who ignore and drive away the good men and then moan you only meet sleazy guys…

My advice would be to avoid POF like the plague and go out and try to find someone in the real world.