FriendFinder is a dating site that is designed for both social networking and for those seeking romantic relationships.
It was founded in 1996 by Andrew Conru and has about 3.5 million members.
Owned by the FriendFinder Networks and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, it is highly regarded as one of the more successful early pioneers of online dating.
It is one of the most visited dating sites in the world as recorded by Alexa(the premier internet ranking system).
FriendFinder has about a 50/50 male to female ratio.
WHAT I LIKED
- Quick Sign-Up – The sign-up process was very quick and easy. It took me less than 5 minutes.
- Multiple Chat Room Options – I was very impressed with the various chat room options. These are but a few:
- Lobby – A welcome area where I was greeted warmly by other members.
- Love Doctors Room – This is where members give each other advice on love, sex and relationships. I had quite a few interesting conversations in this room and dare I say, learned a thing or two.
- Hot Tub Room – This is geared towards erotic chatting.
- Clean Room – This is for those more interested in chatting about topics that don’t involve cyber sex. I had quite a few interesting conversations here. There was one about clowns that was very entertaining, but I digress.
- Cupid Settings – This option enabled me to narrow down the field and specifically choose the physical, demographical and behavioral aspects that I was looking for in a match. FriendFinder would then send me matches based on my choices. This was a good way to save time and increase the likelihood of receiving good matches.
- Mobile App – This was a nice touch. It allows you to check for and send messages to other members through your mobile phone. It was a great way for me to stay connected even when I wasn’t at my computer.
- Voice and Video Introduction -There are not too many dating sites out there that give you the opportunity to record a voice and video introduction. This allows you to add something more to your profile that mere words cannot duplicate. Just by watching member videos and listening to what they had to say, I got a good feel for the type of personality each one had. This enabled me to more easily select those that I felt would be the best match for me.
- Instant Messenger – Live video chat, with SOUND! Enough said.
- Friends Network – With this feature, you can invite others to join your network, view photo albums of the friends within your network, share announcements or news through the Network Bulletins, create your own personal blog and invite the friends within your network to read it and discuss. This is the feature that really demonstrates the social networking side of FriendFinder. It is also very possible to meet someone special through the friends that you make within your network.
- The Relationship Magazine – Unlike most dating sites, FriendFinder is very unique in that it has a relationship magazine. The content of this magazine is completely controlled by the dating site’s members. You can read the dating success stories of many members of the dating site as well as gain some useful dating advice, and even check out your horoscope.
- Browse Listings – FriendFinder has a massive member base. All you have to do is visit their browse page to view all their listings. It has members in literally every continent with listings that are specific to country, city, region and province. These listings were quite stunning to behold and made it easy for me to locate several members close to where I lived.
WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
- Very Busy Interface – FriendFinder is so packed full of features that it can be a little bit overwhelming at first. As a new member, it did take quite a bit of effort for me to figure out where everything was.
- Some Fake Profiles – Thankfully, these were very few. Be watchful for any profile that has a photo of a person with supermodel caliber good looks followed by a profile essay filled with grammatical errors.
MEMBERSHIP AND PRICING
- Free Membership
- Create a Profile.
- Upload Photos.
- Basic Search.
- Chat.
- See Who’s Viewed You.
- Communicate with Paying Members Who Have Opted to Communicate with Non-Paying Members.
- Access to Friends Network.
- Create a “Hot List” of Your Favorite Members.
- Silver Membership
- View and Contact Members.
- Show Up After Gold Members in Searches.
- Contact New Members.
- Access Members’ Recorded Video Intros.
- Partial Access to Blogs, Groups, and Magazine Features.
- Friendly 24/7 Phone Support.
6 Months – $10.99/month (Billed at $65.94)
3 Months – $13.99/month (Billed at $41.97)
1 Month – $22.99/month (Billed at $22.99)
- Gold Membership
- View and Contact Members.
- Show Up at the Very Top in Searches.
- Be the First to Contact New Members.
- Get Full Access to Members’ Recorded Video Intros.
- Full Access to Blogs, Groups, and Magazine Features.
- Friendly 24/7 Phone Support.
- Access to Extra Large Photos.
- Access to ICQ, AIM, YIM & MSN ID’s of Members in Your Network.
6 Months – $11.99/month (Billed at $95.92)
3 Months – $14.99/month (Billed at $59.96)
1 Month – $34.99 (Billed at $34.99)RECOMMENDATION
FriendFinder has many faces. It is a social networking site, a dating site, a creative site and a cyber interactive site. Although these many faces can be seen as a testament to its strengths, they can just as easily be seen as a testament to its weaknesses. Perhaps it tries to do too much. In any case, FriendFinder allowed me the opportunity to get to know some wonderful people. You may too. Indeed, you never know where that special someone may be hiding. It isn’t always in a dating profile.
[Rating:4.3/5]