Editors' rating:
Excellent
Editors' Review
Friendfinder.com is the largest incarnation of the FriendFinder brand; which encompasses everything from the FriendFinder flagship and its multiple variations across the world to Senior FriendFinder (might need a little name tweeking on that one) to the deliciously notorious Adult FriendFinder. The sites vary quite a bit from traditional dating sites and form more of an online dating community than an individual matching for serious dating. The site essentially forms a middle ground between the Facebook or MySpace format and the Match.com format.
Profiles
When you sign up and fill out your profile there is very little information required. This might strike some people who have used other sites as a bit odd. Although the profiles have the ability to be expanded and quite descriptive the basic information is BASIC. This is because the site does not actually do any matching, but only browsing. For the lazy procrastinators among us who do not wish to do any more mouse movement than necessary, this is a little disappointing. The browsing function does allow you to narrow the constraints considerably to find those best suited for you, but you can do that on MySpace for free.
Features
One unique feature the site offers is blog pages for subscribers. I am not aware of another dating site (not social networking) that does this. It allows the subscribers to expand on the limited profile and show a lot more personal flair. The ability to express oneself on the site doesn't stop there. In addition to having articles and advice by professionals, some good, some not so good; the site has a section for members to submit articles. A lot of the advice and input in these articles is actually quite good, and it must be said, some of the member advice actually seemed more reasonable and realistic than the "professional" advice.
Communication
The level of interaction with other members on FriendFinder is worlds apart from most other sites. Active and frequently used chat rooms allow members to meet numerous people at the same time, for anything from friendship to serious relationships. There are also advice threads where you can post a question and have other subscribers respond with input and advice, and they do so quickly. Most of the advice seems to really come from wanting to help the person that posed the question as well, with the occasional heckler and malcontent thrown in for good measure.
Summary
With a membership just shy of 2 million in the US and an almost even ratio of male to female subscribers, and a wide range of browsing options FriendFinder has a great niche built for itself. The prices are extremely reasonable, with a full year paid up front costing less than $10 a month. A young age bracket overall keeps things changing frequently and if you are looking to meet people locally or cyberly in a relaxed and casual environment the price of three lattes can get give you a lot of fun.
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