What Are the Requirements to Join Plenty of Fish?

You must be at least 18 years old, register with a phone number, and have no other account on Plenty of Fish. POF's Terms of Service add a few eligibility rules. You must be able to legally enter a contract, and you cannot have been removed from the service before. You also need a photo of your face before you can message or match with anyone.

You must be at least 18 to use Plenty of Fish. POF says a profile found to be underage is removed and banned.

New members may be asked to upload a photo that clearly shows their face, so POF's age check can confirm they are over 18. If you are an adult, the check is a few seconds of work, and a clear recent picture of you passes it more easily than a cropped or distant one.

POF's Terms of Service set out who is eligible. You must be legally able to enter a contract, and you must not be prohibited by law from using the service. You cannot have another account on the service. And you cannot have been removed from it before, unless you have written permission.

Most of this is ordinary. A man who is an adult, who has one account, and who has never been banned meets every item.

The one worth a second look is the rule about a previous removal. If an old account was removed, POF's terms do not let you come back with a new one unless you have written permission, so do not try to get around it.

The Terms of Service also bar two groups. One is anyone convicted of a crime involving violence, the threat of violence or sexual misconduct. The other is anyone required to register as a sex offender.

These are the parts of the terms that exist to protect the women on the app, and they apply to everyone equally. There is nothing in them for an ordinary man to worry about.

Every account is registered with a phone number, and POF supports only one number per account. You will be asked for an SMS code during sign-up, so the number has to be one that can receive a text.

Use a number you own and plan to keep. The account is tied to it.

A profile photo is needed before you can message or match with other members. Until you add one, you cannot connect with anyone.

That requirement lines up with what matters on every dating app. The photo is the first thing a woman sees, and women judge a man by his weakest picture. So think of it as the main task of your first evening and not a hurdle.

Use pictures where your face is clear, the light is good, and nobody else is in the frame. A group shot where she cannot tell which one is you does the opposite of what you want.

Before you start, collect four things. You need a mobile number that can receive a text, a recent photo that shows your face clearly, and ten quiet minutes. Add a few honest details about your life to write down.

None of that is hard. The men who struggle usually arrive at the photo step with nothing usable on their phone. If that is you, ask a friend to take a few pictures in daylight before you sign up.

Nothing in the list above says you need a particular income, job or looks. The requirements are about age, eligibility, a number and a photo.

That is worth saying because a man can talk himself out of signing up over things the app never asks about. The real filter is not at sign-up. It is the women who decide, one swipe at a time, whether to like you back.

Meeting the rules gets you an account. It does not get you dates.

Be selective in Meet Me from the start. a dating coach found that an app which watches a man say yes to nearly everyone concludes he has no standards and shows him fewer of the women he wants. Swipe right on women you would genuinely ask out.

When one likes you back, write that day. Pick one real detail from her page, say something about it, and end with a question she can answer in a line. After a few warm exchanges, suggest a specific drink on a specific evening.