Friendfinder Review

Riding down the twenty-first century, it has become a common thing among teenagers to meet and find their partners online. Almost 40 million Americans are now using online dating apps and sites to find their perfect match. Friendfinder is one of the most trusted online dating apps where you can search for and discover your mate. The entertaining and fun-filled atmosphere of the site makes meeting new people more engaging and enjoyable. Experts say that in the modern digital age, one out of five relationships starts online. Success stories of married or committed couples who met online strengthen the genuineness of online dating sites.

Working

Friendfinder allows users to sign up to the website and create a personal profile for themselves, just like any other social media site. Simple member searches can be done without signing up, but to move forward into viewing full profiles and sending messages, a personal profile is mandatory. According to surveys, 32% of the site’s total users are women, and 68% are men. So clearly, men dominate in the usage of the site. The site has almost 783,000 members from the USA, and among these, 350,000 are active. The majority of the users belong to their 30s or 40s in age and come up in search of fun and casual online chats rather than serious relationships.

Friendfinder charges its users an average amount of money for using it, but the charge is affordable and reasonable compared to other online dating apps. The site is simple and easily usable and also has quick links and drop-down menus to navigate the users to most used features and potential matches. It does not allow any adds to pop up in between and thereby does not cause much distraction to the searching and interactions of the user. The users can create video introductions about themselves, showcasing their talents or peculiarities, and thereby attract other members. Magazines provided by the site allows the members to post articles and stories, and even allows them to conduct polls.

How to Sign-Up or Login?

New users can start using the site by a simple registration process, which would take only a few minutes to complete. The registration form needs to be provided with details like

• sexual orientation
• marital status
• Age and birthday
• Email
• Password
• Location

Partial information for the personal profile of the user is filled out during this process. Email id and a unique username is a must for this. The site tries to keep away from fake accounts and scammers by sending a verification email to the email id provided.

As a free member, one will be allowed to search others, view profiles partially, and explore through the site but will not be allowed to have full access to profiles and photos. Communication will also be severely restricted. Only paid members will be allowed to initiate communication. Once signed-in, Friendfinder gives its users options to upgrade their profile either to Gold or Silver.

Profile Interaction

Any user who signs on the website is made to provide some basic information about themselves and is also asked for partner preferences. Friendfinder makes use of this information to find the most compatible and like-minded partners. The personality tests conducted to give more insight into a person’s character, and the site uses the results of these tests in matchmaking. The users are allowed to search for partners according to their preferences; this could be preferences in geographical location, community, job, or anything similar.

The site combines social networking with dating, so people who are looking for fun chat or flirty time passing can also get the most out of this endeavor. More than dating, the site allows its members to make friends all around the world. It is the best place where one can make friends belonging to particular locations or specific job areas.

Communication Options

Friendfinder allows only its paid members to initiate communication. Free members can send “winks” or “flirts” to interested people and get their attention but can never begin a conversation. Forums and group chats are available for all, but only approved members are allowed to join chat groups. Another common method that can make members get the attention of others is through blogs. Anyone can create a blog and write whatever they want to without having to upgrade their account. Members can also read other people’s blogs and write comments about them and thereby get connected. Online magazines also allow members to showcase their writing skills in the form of articles.

Site usage, activities and member structure

As already mentioned, nearly 783,000 people from the USA have registered to Friendfinder, and among this huge sum, 350,000 are active members who use the site actively every week. There are also thousands of members who remain active daily. People belonging to different geographic areas come up with the site, but most are from the United States and Canada. Looking into the gender proportion, it is clear that men use it more than women, and they are the active participants. Women make up only 32% of the total users, while the remaining 68% are men. Surveys show that most of the people using this site are people in their mid-30s or early 40s.

Age of Users

According to recent data that has come out, Friendfinder has users ranging from people belonging to their teenage to people belonging to their middle age. In all the age groups, men outnumber women.

Sexual Choices

Friendfinder asks for the sexual preferences of the users from the very time of registration itself. It is the first thing that pops up when one gets into the registration process. Thus they ensure that the sexual preference of every user is taken into consideration while forming matches.

Users are asked to set cupid preferences before they move further with the profile. Cupid preference confirms the age range, location distance, appearance, race, and finally, the relationship status of the people one wants to connect with. It allows users to choose from people belonging to different sexual orientations like straight, gay/lesbian, Bi-sexual, Bi-curious, etc. Thus it is clear that the site does not keep itself confined to the traditional notions of sex, where there are only two sexes that are male or female and only one socially accepted sexual orientation that is straight.

Racial Preferences

Friendfinder respects the preferences of its users, whatever that might be. This is the sole reason why the site comes up with options where one can choose the race and ethnic group to which their future partner should belong. Race and ethnicity is not a mandatory question in the personal profile or cupid preferences. Still, users are given the option to use it if they are looking for a serious relationship rather than a fun chat or a flirty pass. Languages like English, Chinese, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish are available for users.

Religious Preferences

Religious orientation is yet another question that Friendfinder poses in front of users searching for their partners. This question is also not mandatory, but for those users who are very much oriented to their religious group and beliefs, this will surely be helpful. This also allows the users to find members who are similar to them in religious beliefs and backgrounds.

Features of the website

The site offers its best possible to the users in terms of the features available for them to use.

• It allows its members to have a search around without having to sign up. The search can be done by using any part of the profile.
• The main features that the site provides for its users include blogs, friend networks, interest groups, etc. blogs allow members to connect with other users through their writing skills.
• Magazines are also a unique feature of Friendfinder. Apart from simply allowing the members to post their articles, the magazines also provide guidance, answers to the frequently asked questions, and tips for working with the site. It also showcases success stories of users, along with videos for the sake of entertainment.
• It allows its users to add other members to the hotlist. It is a particular way in which the users can organize the profiles they are interested in. It gives users more convenience during the searching process. When a member is hotlisted, their profiles get pinned on the homepage and placed into a list, making it easy for them to navigate to that profile afterward. Hotlisting someone also allows the users to get notified whenever they are online and thereby increases the chance of having an online communication.
• Friendfinder also provides an option were users can add-friend other members. It is similar to hot listing but different because it offers more access to a member’s profile. Unlike hotlisting, a user needs the consent of the other user to do this.
• The last visit to its users is shown. It is highly useful in finding active users. If a person has not come online for the past few months, then it can be concluded that he/she is not an active member and that communication chances are less.

Privacy and Security

Friendfinder allows its users to sign up with a unique user name; thus, the users can keep their personal information and real name from outsiders if they want to. It also verifies the email id provided to get rid of scams and fake profiles. During registration, the website collects sensitive information about users like racial and ethnic preferences, religious and political beliefs, sexuality and sexual preferences, etc. The site also stores the contents like images, voice messages, or audio recordings that the users submit. But these details are kept safe and enclosed unless the user wants it to public. Information about how the users use the website as profiles visited, interactions made, texts sent and received, videos recorded, interaction with live videos are also stored by the website for future reference and provide services according to user preferences.

Legitimate or Scam

Friendfinder, for sure, is a legitimate site for legitimate users. Being an online dating website has its pros and cons, but over the years, it has come up with providing quality service to its users. If it was not trustworthy and legitimate, millions of people might not have used it, and it wouldn’t have got into the list of top-rated dating sites.

Subscription particulars

When a user registers on the site, they start with a standard membership. Then Friendfinder offers its users options to upgrade their profile either to Gold or Silver for a fee. Upgraded profiles have their privileges over the standard profiles. Gold or Silver members can have advanced viewing of other’s profiles and can also have online conversations with other members. They also have access to introduction videos posted in the profiles of other users.

Gold is the most expensive out of the two and has privileges as compared to Silver. Gold members get priority in searches; they appear at the top when others search for their prospective match. This enhances their chance of being noticed by others. They also have access to advanced searching and matching tools. This makes it easier for the Gold members to sift through the sea of profiles with ease. Gold membership costs

• $34.95 for a month
• $ 54.94 for three months
• $96.60 for six months.

Silver is a bit cheaper than Gold, and these members will appear only after the Gold members in the search list. Silver membership unlocks the chatting opportunities and also some of the uploaded videos. Having a Silver membership is always way better than the simple standard membership. The silver membership is available at

• $22.95 for a month
• $ 41.85 for three months
• $ 65.70 for six months.

Other paid extras are also available, making it possible for the users to boost their profiles and get notified whenever someone reads their message. Payments can be made via Debit cards or Credit cards or even via phone banking.

Standard Membership

Friendfinder takes in every user who registers in the site as a free member or a standard member. Having a free membership allows the users to search among other members and get a preview of their profiles. They can add people to hotlists for future reference and add photos to their profiles for others to see. Uploading videos are also possible even though they can’t watch the videos posted by others. Winks or flirts can be send to any of the users irrespective of the type of membership they hold. Creating magazines and blogs is yet another privilege given to users with free membership.

Paid Community

Any user who has subscribed to a Golden membership or Silver membership is called a paid member. They have access to more privileges when compared to free members. Paid members can send unlimited messages to anyone they like and can access the users’ photos and videos. They have the option to highlight their profiles and to add friends. Their profiles also get listed at the top when someone searches for their matches. They also get technical support via telephone if they are in need.

Website design

Friendfinder has a very user-friendly website design. It allows the users to get hold of all the features of the site with ease. Popups, quick links, and drop-down menus make the process of navigation to useful features effortless. Hotlist and add friend options available for the members to make the process of finding and organizing interested profiles easier. The design of the website is more than appealing and gives a pleasant atmosphere for engaging in matchmaking.

Other availability

The site also provides its users the convenience of using the website in the form of a mobile app. This allows the users to date on the go. Everything provided in the regular site is made available on the mobile app also. The app is available on the iPhone, and users of other mobile brands can get the mobile-optimized website.

Contact details

Company: FriendFinder Networks

Address: various Inc. at 910 E. Hamilton Ave. Suite 600, Campbell, CA 95008

Phone: 408-702-1033, 888-575-8383 (Toll-Free)

Email

Conclusion

Friendfinder is one of the pioneers in providing online dating services for people worldwide, a reliable solution for people looking for love, friendship, or fun chats. The mature and pleasant atmosphere it offers to its users makes it unique and worthy in the online dating industry.