What is Plenty Of Fish, how many people use the online dating app and why is it so controversial? All you need to know
IN THIS day and age, singletons are much more likely to turn to digital dating in their quest for romance.
And one website they might use to find love is Plenty of Fish, which is specifically designed for those unlucky in dating to find their significant other. Here's all you need to know...
What is Plenty of Fish?
Plenty of Fish, or POF is a dating website that has over 90 million users registered globally.
Originally established in 2003 by founder Markus Frind, he managed to gain ten million users while running the site from his bedroom.
Today the dating site is available in five different languages reportedly have an impressive 55,000 new sign-ups a day.
The site claims an impressive three million users are active every day and make the impressive statement that you know at least one person who found someone on POF.
The site is free to use, meaning people don't have to part with any money to start finding their matches.
How does Plenty of Fish match people?
When a new user signs up to the site, they are asked for their basic information as well as a picture of themselves.
The site then offers a lengthy, if not entertaining, chemistry test, where users answer a series of questions to establish their character.
The data from this is then used to match people with other users who it is believed they will have a spark with.
They also make bold claims about the dating training they offer suggesting that they can “tell you what you need in a relationship, where you screwed up (without knowing it) in past relationships.”
After being matched, users can the decide whether they would like to start messaging them on the site.
From then on, it is up to the users whether they would like to chat more or even meet in person.
Why is Plenty of Fish controversial?
There have been several cases where people have used Plenty of Fish to meet people in order to carry out criminal acts.
In February 2017, 27-year-old Scott Lazenby was jailed seven years for raping one woman he met on the site and molesting another victim in front of her own son.
Lazenby, from Colne, in Lancashire, had exchanged messages with both via Plenty of Fish website before arranging to meet them both on “dates”, Burnley Crown Court was told.
His case prompted Judge Andrew Woolman to tell the court that just because women sign up to the website, it "does not mean that the consent to sex."
Meanwhile, in January 2017, Ryan Schofield, who met a string of women on Plenty of Fish and other sites, was jailed after attacking eight victims over a seven-year period.
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In Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Schofield stormed out of the dock as prosecutors detailed his shocking history of violence against a string of girlfriends dating back to 2009.
One of his previous victims had been threatened with a crowbar, headbutted and stripped of her clothing whilst another was punched in the stomach and grabbed until she almost fainted.