The information presented below is based on the interview with Plenty of Fish public relations.
Plenty of Fish is one of the oldest and most well-known online dating platforms. Markus Frind, the founder of the Vancouver-based startup, created the dating giant in 2003, where it gained traction through local events, word-of-mouth, and social media. Now, Plenty of Fish has the biggest user database, making it one of the most attractive dating platforms out there. After all, with more users comes more chances of meeting “the one,” right?
As a sociologist studying the recent phenomena of online dating, I had the opportunity to tour the official Plenty of Fish headquarters, based in Vancouver’s Harbor Centre. The headquarters plays with the fish theme, as splashes of bright blue paint tastefully canvas the walls. The entrance hall is called the “Aquarium” (prefaced by the fish tank to the side of the doors). Walking further towards the main offices, there’s an entire cabinet dedicated to happy hour. “We like to have fun!” the PR proudly states. With a work environment geared towards team building and romantic success, alcohol does seem like a logical potion to include in the workplace.
Finally, we reach our destination: a meeting room with floor-to-ceiling glass walls displaying Vancouver’s western downtown. With such a vibrant environment and financial success, it’s hard to believe that Plenty of Fish only has one physical headquarters, with approximately 75 workers servicing over 100 million people!
“The majority of our users are actually from the USA. We’re the most popular dating platform in Brazil. Of course, we’re also big players in Canada, Spain, and Mexico.”
Online dating is quickly becoming the norm; after all, it’s convenient, fast, and efficient. Sure, there’s still some social stigma attached to online dating –“But that will soon go away as more and more people share their dating success stories. Every week, I get at least 8 emails from couples who have met each other on Plenty of Fish, and are getting married.“
Indeed, Plenty of Fish is moving towards a relationship-geared market. “Women feel more comfortable using relationship-oriented dating platforms. It feels safer.” With social norms still encouraging men to approach women in heterosexual dating roles (and not always with respect), women are often harassed by unwanted attention, especially if women are seeking hook ups. It is not unusual for a woman’s inbox to be spammed with disingenuous messages or infamous dick-pics –leaving the few genuine messages impossible to find. Situations like these cause women to leave such dating platforms, even if they are looking for hookups.
“It becomes annoying and overwhelming. You can’t tell if he actually wants to see you, or if he’s just messaged a hundred women at once! That’s why we’ve decided to become relationship centered: women just feel more comfortable.”
“What makes us unique is that we have the largest number of users, we have the most user usage, and we focus on socio-economic similarities.”
Socio-economic similarities? As explained by Plenty of Fish’s research team leader, their heterosexual dating research shows that people with similar social and economic statuses tend to be attracted to one another. “They also tend to have longer and better quality relationships.” In other words, like attracts like. Focussing on socio-economic status makes Plenty of Fish unique among other dating platforms, which focus primarily on either psychological or personality factors.
The Plenty of Fish team works hard to “clean the ecosystem” to ensure that the relationship-oriented site stays this way. This means no sugar daddies, married persons, and scammers.
“For instance, we have a 14 year age gap limit. If you’re a 30 year old man and you’ve signed up, then we’ll filter your searches so that you can’t see women younger or older than you by 14 years.” Of course, there are grey zones in this area: “If the two people involved are much older, then it’s okay. But say, if it’s an 18 year old girl and a 40 year old man, then we start questioning if this is actually a serious relationship.”
Now that Plenty of Fish is a part of the Match Group (which also owns Tinder and OkCupid), many more changes are to come. So keep on the lookout for multiple options on sexual and gender identities, voice messaging, and more!