Dating Services Reviews

Adult Friend Finder is the leading sexually based dating site in the world and boasts a profile database of over 31 million people. The site is accepting of all gender preferences and sexual interests. While many of the members are "professionals" involved illegal activity, there are also many people actually looking for casual partners and meetings. Many sites struggle to avoid members who are only looking for sex and who bother other members looking for a more serious relationship. AdultFriendFinder.com is a great place to go for casual online daters who are tired of being turned down by the members at other sites. This site also helps other more serious dating sites maintain their focus on serious relationships.

Don't be fooled by the massive number of profiles because many of them will not be available singles. AFF does not do a good job of getting rid of inactive profiles of members who are never logged into the site. Beyond that, most users of the site will not live within range of meeting up with you. Some members have even been reported to be from other dating sites, attempting to recruit new members from AFF. Be sure to approach Adult Friend Finder with caution and browse available singles in your area before actually paying for a membership.

Signing Up
To join AFF with a free basic membership takes only a few moments and requires an email address. After you enter your username, zip code and email address, you will be sent a confirmation email with your login information. You can immediately log in and begin utilizing the free features at AdultFriendFinder.com. The free features, however, are limited enough that they are somewhat annoying to use without paying.

Features
Adult Friend Finder provides free features to basic members that will actually allow them to communicate, get to know each other, and possibly meet up. By providing free communication tools, AFF does a good job of bringing in new members. However, this free offer also increases the profile database size and fills it with non-serious users.

The free instant messaging service is very similar to normal chat programs and will allow you to see a list of who is online. You can choose anyone who is logged in to the instant messenger and send them a message for free. The odd part about the instant messaging is that you cannot begin to chat with someone directly from their profile. In other words, you would have to search and browse the profile database, find someone you are interested in, and then remember their username so you could see if they are signed into the instant messaging service. This happens because the instant messaging service is a separate system from the website, much like other common instant messenger programs. Although this is just a little bit of a hassle, it is hard to tell who is actually logged on to instant messenger by looking at the AFF site. This messaging system, however, really is a great feature and is one of the main formats that free members can communicate through.

Another way basic members can communicate with each other is through the chat rooms and forums on AFF. Instead of limiting communication to instant messaging, AFF provides a place for the users to come together as a community and discuss topics. You can visit topical chat rooms, private web cam chat rooms, and even chat according to your location.

The searching and browsing options are great when trying to discover new and interesting people. You can search for partners according to a lot of different criteria and can narrow your search pretty well. The profiles are very clear and display some quality photographs, but the profiles can only be viewed by paying members. This makes it hard for basic members to know who they would actually be interested in talking to.

The video section at AdultFriendFinder.com also offers a lot of content that can both entertain and connect people. They not only allow for member videos and introductions, but they also have member web cams, model web cams, a video manager, and even adult video options. Utilizing video is a fantastic way to mix technology into the online dating world and to allow online daters to get a better sense of who their fellow members are.

Your member home page will also include a "My Lists" section that outlines many of your activities and possible matches. You can view your Hotlist, favorite photos, favorite profiles, as well as the emails and flirts you have sent and received. This a great feature that will help you keep track of who you are interacting with the most.

Finally, you will also have a full email inbox that will do a great job of helping you organize and save important messages you want to remember. While many dating sites offer an ultra-basic email service, AFF provides you with an in-depth view of your sent messages, received messages, contact lists, filters, and other helpful items.

Pricing
The pricing structure at AFF is hidden until you join for a basic membership. They offer multiple membership plans and allow you to choose the length of your commitment.

The memberships at AFF are broken up into two types, Gold and Silver. A Silver membership will give you access to all of the main AFF features, allow you to view five photos in each profile, view emails for up to sixty days and keep a Hotlist of up to 500 members. A Gold membership will allow you to view all profile photos, view extra large photos, have access to members' outside chat contact information such as AIM, view emails for up to 120 days, and have a Hotlist of up to 1,000 members.

Memberships cost different prices per month depending on the length of your commitment. A one-month Gold membership costs $26.99 per month while a three-month Gold membership costs $13.50 per month. Their best offer is a twelve-month Gold membership with six extra months free for only $7.50 per month.

A one-month Silver membership will cost you $17.99. A three-month commitment will cost you $10.83 per month while a twelve-month commitment will cost $7.50 per month.

Other Reviews
Many user testimonials online suggest that AFF has many serious problems and should be avoided at all costs. As mentioned above, the massive profile database unfortunately includes sexual "professionals," inactive users, recruiters from others sites, and people who seriously misrepresent themselves. While some user testimonials suggest never even approaching the site, others suggest that it did a good job of connecting them with compatible sexual partners. As long as you stay aware of their common problems and do your best to watch after yourself, you can successfully find other people on Adult Friend Finder seeking the same thing you are.

The overall reviews of AdultFriendFinder.com are strong. About.com's review gave Adult Friend Finder a 3.5 out of 5. 100BestDatingSites.com gave the site a perfect 5 out of 5 and rated it number three on their top 100 dating site list. DatingDame.com gave the site a 4.5 out of 5 while LoveRow.com gave it a 4 out of 5.

Conclusion
There is an inherent risk when dating online and that risk is more apparent at AdultFriendFinder.com. With their free profile and basic membership, anyone with a computer and an email address can join instantly. Although their profile database size is impressive, many of those profiles are either inactive or for people who are participating in scams or illegal activity.

The features and services at Adult Friend Finder are strong and present a clear way for people to find partners online. Their free chat, instant messaging, search engine and videos give the site enough substance and provide users with a fun and casual way to meet new people. AFF does have some problems, but people who are primarily looking for casual meetings can definitely find what they are looking for there.