Sites Like Plentyoffish

Plentyoffish has long been recognised as the Daddy of free dating sites. Millions of members, no user restrictions and a name that sounds out around the world. The POF brand speaks for itself.

I mean, come on, even Lady Gaga featured the damn thing in a music video. How many other dating sites can claim that sort of presence in pop culture? The answer is not many, but we can see the tide turning.

Sites like Plentyoffish are beginning to emerge on the horizon, and unlike the many that have failed before, these may actually have a chance of catching on. Facebook has changed an entire generation’s interpretation of how a social networking site should be done.

Remember when it cost an arm and a leg just to open a message on Friends Reunited? We do. Dating sites can’t afford to charge what they once did, because the competition is so fierce.

And who wins in that situation? You!

Sites like Plentyoffish are springing up everywhere, following the trend of giving away a great deal of functionality for free. You’d be surprised just how many dating sites offer the same free incentives as POF. Not all of them are 100% free, but even Plentyoffish has started to implement paid features.

The Best Alternatives to Plentyoffish

Just Hookup – Millions of members onboard already, and growing at a frightening rate, Just Hookup has just the right blend of free and paid features to be able to compete with Plentyoffish. Just like POF, Hookup aims to capture all singles – young, old, rich or poor. But it is geared towards more risque dating. Lots of skin, lots of sex, and probably lots of robots too!

Sites like Plentyoffish are going to be appearing and disappearing very often over the coming months. One thing’s for sure, if you’re looking to find a date online, there ain’t gonna be a shortage of services looking to grab you by the hand. Happy hunting.

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Look Better Online Review

LookBetterOnline.com opens it’s sale pitch by begging the question; Do people ever say, “You look better in person”?

Already I’m left scratching my head. For me, the answer to that question is an emphatic “No, and don’t ever ask me again…”

I can airbrush my Facebook photos and I can handpick my sexiest Twitter avatar. But I sure as hell can’t hide behind perfect lighting or misleading pixels if you meet me in the flesh.

Here is a service catered to dating website users. The aim of Look Better Online is to match you with a professional photographer – in your area – who can bring out the beauty in those default profile pics. That’s right. It’s the virtual equivalent of whispering in a friend’s ear to put out a good word that you’re “actually a nice chap”.

You can pay $149 to have your features contorted in to attractive photo shots that buck the trend of Stella red-eye. You can then take those photos, upload them to your dating site of choice and pray to the saints that somebody notices a difference.

Artificial attraction. Mmm, we like it already!

The Best Profile Pictures – Who Gives A…?!

I think the appeal of Look Better Online has been slightly warped away from it’s target market. It shouldn’t be to match your beauty in the street with the quality of your photos online. Because that’s obviously not going so well if you’re frequenting a service like this in the first place. But rather, it should be to hide the flaws and give yourself as much chance of attracting a skin-deep reply as you can feasibly muster.

Am I being a little harsh? Maybe.

You don’t have to be Prince Fugly to use Look Better Online. Christ, you don’t even have to be using the photos for a dating profile to begin with. It’s all about how you want to be perceived on the web.

Say what you want about dating sites. But anybody who disagrees that people don’t make snap judgments based on the lure of your profile pics has clearly been driven up the wall by PC convention. That’s not how it plays.

People on dating sites WILL and DO judge you as a person by the photo they see in front of them. In that regard, I can see why many singletons are flocking to LookBetterOnline.com as a pick-me-up that shows themselves in the best light.

Is it something your camera-obsessed niece could probably manage with last Christmas’s Canon present? Yes, probably. You could ask a friend or family member to get you the same professional style shot.

But if we can say anything about LookBetterOnline.com, it’s that the guys know what they’re doing. The photos are professional, but in the right way. You don’t want to look over-posey. I mean, Christ, it’s a profile photo. Not America’s Next Top Model.

As part of the standard Look Better Online package, you’ll receive a minimum of 12 professional photos. You can choose between 2 and 4 “looks”. A look is essentially… “Hold on ten minutes while I change in to another outfit and get my Vogue on…”

The appointment shouldn’t take longer than an hour and the number of cities covered by the service is expanding rapidly.

I think it’s a little too late for me to look better online. This blog has sealed my fate and condemned me forevermore. But maybe you still have hope. Check out LookBetterOnline.com if you’re interested in a virtual makeover.

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Tourists And Thai Hookers

I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of having to spend six days in residential accommodation on the doorstep of Bangkok’s Red Light District, and in that time, I’ve been able to see the staggering stupidity of many western tourists.

Thailand is a beautiful country. The food is amazing, the people charming and the weather…oh it’s only about 33°C. Not too shoddy while London hibernates completely at the slightest sniff of a snowflake.

But for all of Thailand’s charms, it’s just as susceptible to the kind of seedy hot spots that you’d see on a drunken night out in Soho. The small district, Nana, where I was staying, was literally littered in brothel bars.

You get in to the habit of people watching from the distance and judging a tourist by his intentions. Is he loitering around the bars because it’s full of English speakers and a welcome reminder of home? Or is he lapping up the attention of the many young Thai prossers in vicinity?

I’m not one to judge the lifestyle choices of others. Well, actually I am, but that’s not the point I’m about to make.

I can understand the motives of the guys who flock to the hookers for a quick shag and a quick exit. Bangkok has a reputation for it’s red light scene, and I guess many of these guys fly here for that very reason.

But what I can’t understand is the outrageous stupidity of those who shack up with hookers and then fall hopelessly in love with them. I’ve heard numerous stories of guys buying sex and then being sweet talked in to something deeper. And I haven’t yet heard a story which started in this fashion being blessed with a happy ending.

It’s not rocket science. If you believe the sweet pillow talk of a girl who’s being paid to make you feel good, you might as well just throw your wallet in the street and call it a day. For all of Thailand’s gracious hospitality, it’s not shy of the occasional blood vulture seeing only riches in your western complex.

Guys, if you’re going to Thailand and feel the need to splash the cash on getting some – don’t leave your common sense at the airport. Healthy relationships rarely materialise from a Sawadee in the lobby of a brothel!

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Going On An Ice Skating Date?

I was walking through Westfield with my girlfriend yesterday when she caught sight of an ice rink. Dozens of excited looking kids were charging around on blades while scattered couples could be detected clinging to the barriers and presumably attempting not to embarrass themselves on an awkward first date.

We already had a movie date penciled in, so I was quite determined not to be taking any tumbles. Given the choice between 150 minutes of Harry Potter tedium or snapping an ankle two weeks before I fly to Thailand, it was always going to end in a large bucket of popcorn.

There’s something undeniably romantic about ice skating with your partner when London turns on it’s festive charm. For all that I hate about the capital and it’s tendency to rush out Christmas trees before Halloween, I can’t deny that it does it well.

The glow of a thousand lights raining down on the bitter Westfield walkway is actually quite nice. Although not nice enough to convince me that I wouldn’t rather spend my Christmas on a beach in Phuket.

If you’re looking to inject a little romance in to your festive agenda, I would vote ice skating dates as one of the best choices for fledgling singles who don’t quite know how to take their leap of faith. I mean, come on, if you’re going to take a girl on a first date – don’t take her to Harry Potter. As much as I didn’t mind the movie (6/10), it features vast scenes where absolutely nothing is happening. You’re going to really feel the date for what it is. Two strangers sitting in a dark room wondering what the other is thinking.

If you’re determined to take your date to the cinema, for the love of God – AVOID THE VIP SEATS! They may be extra padded with enough leg room to have a good stretch, but they’re also wedged apart by an arm rest that’ll make canoodling your romantic flame about as awkward looking as a lunge over a zoo barrier to pet a tortoise.

If you play your cards right, you may just about get to pet her heels with a flick of your laces.

Ice skating, on the other hand, despite my fears of breaking an ankle prior to boarding an important flight, is actually a very good choice for getting that first date out of the way. You can laugh and enjoy something physical. It’s a date where silence can only be a good thing because it means you haven’t fallen on your arse.

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