AdultFriendFinder

Arguably one of the best ways people have leveraged a free internet – besides uploading copious amounts of porn – is the advent of internet dating. However, it did start out rather awkward, given slow image load times, poor internet speeds, and the enormous amount of trust required before platforms became established. Nowadays, with decades of trial and error coupled with lightning-quick download speeds, no buffering problems for video streams, and a culture that is accustomed to sharing intimate information with strangers, online dating has been nearly perfected. One of the pioneering platforms which helped shape this new way to meet (as well as make out) with new people is AdultFriendFinder.com. While AFF has been seen some bumps in the road as it has developed over the years and still does have some problems, it is a landmark site which is definitely worth checking out. If you are interested in finding out why continue to scroll down and find out.

One Of The Oldest Dating Sites Online

To be blunt, during the dawn of the World Wide Web was an absolute sh*t show. Early HTML coding came and went almost as fast as the loads that horny nerds who first discovered (and as we know, most of them invented) internet pornography. However, there were an enterprising few who managed to figure out the tricks of being successful when simultaneously navigating and developing the virgin digital sea.

Or at least for the most part.

One of those people was Andrew Conru – a legendary mechanical engineer who helped found the WWW. In addition to helping creation FriendFinder.com, later Compute.org, and an accidental founder of a couple of accidental adult entertainment companies dreamt up the foundation of what would become AFF during the mid-nineties. During 19964, Cornu created WebPersonals, which would be one of the first official dating (or rather the internet version of a "dating") platform, WebPersonals, out on the (then new) World Wide Web. Though crude, Cornu's vision spread across the burgeoning fiberoptic cables, which acted as the connective tissues of the net, which led to some interesting changes – most notably unexpected changes with his other projects. For one, he founded WebPersonals and built-up & sold about half a dozen other companies and within just a few years. Among those, he created what became FriendFinder.com, which was later bought up by the legendary Penthouse franchise. After the additional investment, lawsuits, alterations, and experimentation, the FriendFinder Networks was wrested by Andrew Cornu and improved from the tail end of 2013 into the present and became the current incarnation of Adult Friend Finder and is the head of the company. Moving on, despite the ups and downs, when it comes to alterations of views coupled with radical changes in the site’s design, AFF has clearly influenced both the online dating scene and the digital hook up culture. The proof of that is obvious, as can be seen with the sheer number of accolades this site has been award, including being rated as one of the most popular websites Stateside, and over the years has been awarded…

• A top 100 ranked site to find love among OkCupid & Match.com circa 2007…
• …being awarded the “Dating Program of the Year” according to XBIZ Award in 2010
• …the “Best Adult Dating Side” according to ranking site Adult.com in 2012
• …the famous indie award the YNOT Award “Best Dating Company” in 2015
• …and the XBIZ Awards Winner and GFY “Best Dating Company” Winner in 2016…

…among many other forms of recognition and accolades.

The Design Is Decent

To be sure, the aesthetics of AdultFriendFinder is top-notch, but we should note that there are a segment of potential users who may not be prepared for. As you will see through the rest of this review, AFF provides tons of functions and features which most dating sites do not possess in part or in whole. Consequently, the design of AFF is quite maximalist, unlike comparatively simplistic app-based dating services like Tinder. For this reason, some people may have to adjust to the sheer number of things to do and ways you can interact with people. So, after reading this article and signing up, do not immediately start responding to people. Instead, we recommend thoroughly navigating around the site to get used to it and find your “niche.” With respect to the design as is, AdultFriendFinder does have a stimulating red-white color scheme which is accented by a pleasing shade of dark gray and light blue. That pallet with the use of contrasting black or white-colored text makes the viewing the site both easy on the eyes yet also exciting. That makes for a perfect look, we think, for a hookup platform.

There Are A Fine Number Of Features

With over 97 million members from all over the world, having good search options is critical. Fortunately, one of the primary aspects of the site, which is predominantly featured on almost every page, including the landing page, is the search and filter tools. The basic tools allow you to filter your options by the gender and number of partners you are looking for. And since this site has clearly kept pace with modern trends and conceptions of identities, they go beyond the usual dichotomy of looking for either a woman or man. Instead, you can search for women, men, mixed-gendered couples, transvestites, transgenders, an –which includes a category called "transexuals" – in any combination you want. Beyond that, you can sign up a single man, woman, or trans person as well as mixed-sex or same-sex couple, or even a larger group of people. Further, there are additional filter options that allow you to find other members by location, physical characteristics, and both personal and sexual interests. With this level of thoroughness, you are virtually guaranteed to find nearby persons or people who are looking for exactly what you are into. Beyond all of that, there are several more bonus features, many of which are rarely seen on other dating and hookup sites. Members’ Videos – In the ear of the hookup culture, it would seem that people are more sexually liberated than ever, especially when it comes to exhibiting themselves online to strangers. So, it should come as no surprise that there are literally thousands of videos of members, most of them being women, who show themselves off on their phones and on live streams. Members’ Streams – Speaking of live streams, AFF has thousands of AFF members who are complete amateurs, semi-pros, and professionals, who will titillate you for free – or at least they will initially. Very often, you will have to pay for private shows, though the amount of skin and the types of extremely sexy exhibition before going private, so that some streamers will tend to be much more liberal than true cam sites. And to make things even better, the site's cammers from all over the world and in nearly every timezone, so you will be able to find a girl to suit your taste no matter where, or rather when, you live. In fact, as of writing this now, there are nearly 300 live broadcasts going right now. Live Chat – What would a hookup site be without a chat room? Of course, AFF has several which will match you up with not just streamers but also other members. And unlike the webcam models, they will talk to you for free. When we checked, there were slightly even more members (most of them women) in the chat to engage than there were cammers. Further, we have found from experimentation that if you are charming and polite enough, many of the members in the chat are not only willing to talk to you in private, but also exchange pictures of their privates. AFF Forum – We have already extensively reviewed online porn forums which focuses on the discussion of erotic entertainment, but not too many dating sites that have a (well-made) forum. Apparently, to make up for the deficit elsewhere on the net, AFF has several specialty sub-sites which will appeal to a wide variety of general interests, fetishes, and kinks. For some reason, there are seems to be a particular emphasis on group sex and polyamory. In fact, some of the larger groups specialize in group sex, polyamory, and swinging. Besides that, there are separate groups for those who are into MILFs, mature sex, lesbian encounters, gay hookups, and casual sex. AFF Blog – If any (or several) of these forums appeal to you, then you are going to want to see the specialty member blogs as well. Besides some contributions from AFF staff, the majority of contributions to the various blogs have been made by the users themselves. In fact, there are nearly twenty million blog posts which have been made by to solicit advice on how best to get and enjoy erotic encounters, read about dating tips, and sex advice. Further, there are even blogs to promote amateur pornographic photos. It should also that blog posts are nestled within the AFF forums and specialty groups, so finding a community is extraordinarily easy. And if you think that you will not find a group for you, please note that there are over 170,000 groups. AFF Magazine – While not a true e-zine, the AFF magazines are a sort of extension of the forums and blog posts. Any member can create their own articles, quizzes, and ask questions to other users. While the intent seems to be a place to blow off steam, this part of the site functions far more like another forum within AFF, which, while redundant, does seem to serve the members well. We should also not that paid members can also get access to success stories – in other words, affirmative articles which describe members reporting on which moves and/or words which made their last good hook up or date successfully. Erotic Stories – On the note of hook up stories, there is also an entire section for publishing erotic stories – both real and imagined. Given the strange details of some of these tales, we are not sure which are too strange to be real or so bizarre that they must be. Nonetheless, we think that you will find that they are extraordinarily entertaining to read. What’s Hot – This feature, as far as we can tell, is uniquely geared to help the users locate all of the freshest, trending content sitewide. So, not only is this a tool to find hot content, but also the users who created them.

AdultFriendFinder On Social Media

In case you too are one social media – and which of you are not these days (?) – and want to stay up to date on recent developments on AFF without surreptitiously checking your email, then look up Adult Friend Finder on Twitter. There you will get updates several times a week if not a day about recent developments on the site, and you can get access to all of this information for free. While AFF used to be on Tumblr where they would hold contests and porn-themed giveaways, it seems that after the Purge of 2018 their pages have sadly been wiped.

There Is A Thriving Community

While marketed as a “dating” site, the official motto of AFF is “Hookup, Find Sex or Meet Someone Hot Now.” With this moniker and all of the site features intended to find people based on their physical traits, most people tend to be looking for casual one-time or long-term sexual relationships. From reports of users, we have been in contact with new members who have a high likelihood of being well-received by the community. Of course, that means that odds of being able to flirt with, befriend, and ultimately hook up with other members is quite high. Though difficult to confirm, we have found reports suggesting that the most active members on the site tend to be middle-aged single men and women as well as heterosexual couples of the same age. However, with so many users, it is certainly possible to find members who are looking for dates and romantic relationships. That said, there are still users who have not been booted from the site who seem to be data phishers. For that reason, we strongly recommend exercising caution – even more so than other online dating platforms – when giving out personal information to other members.

Being A Member Does Have Costs And Risks

First, Adult Friend Finder does follow a free-to-use model, though it could be more accurately be described as a pay-to-play (or pay-to-get-laid?) model. By that, we mean that you can get an account without charge and see all of the members and features on the platform. While getting an account is simple, it does require more personal data than other dating sites. You will need to do is include your gender and what you are looking for – in other words, a woman, man, couples, or trans person. Following that, you will need to submit your birth date, country of residence, and zip code. After that, you will need to create a username, generate a unique password, and an email address for account verification. Finally, you will need to verify your account and pass a few security tests. With such an account, you can also receive messages and will get regular emails from AFF about site updates, new features, and recent personal emails from other users. However, in order to interact with anyone on a series level and use everything that the site has to offer, you will have to get paid membership. Standard membership costs $39.95 for a thirty-day pass, though paying $80.85 for a quarter comes down to about $26.95 a month. The best option is to pay $239.95 for an annual pass, which comes down to just $20.00 a month. As with most dating sites, all major credit and debit cards are accepted, as are some bank transfers.

Membership Also Includes Some Risks As Well

While getting a membership is (currently) guaranteed to be completely secure, personal information and users’ computing devices were not always so safe. In one instance in 2007, AFF settled a massive lawsuit with the FCC in which AFF had been accused of deliberately placing pop-ups on their site, which were laden with malware. For another example, in 2014, evidence surfaced that AFF was guilty of financially defrauding. Specifically, customers filed lawsuits claiming and former AFF employees confirmed that the site was knowingly continuously members an inordinate amount of times in a single period even after membership was canceled. Between 2015 and 2016, AFF saw a series of security breaches due to blackhat hackers, which resulted in the theft of personal data of a few hundred million users, including those who had deleted their accounts. According to some sources, those two cyberattacks are considered to be one of the biggest data breaches in history. Of course, AFF staff have reassured customers that they are determined to stay vigilant against cyber pirates and prevent any future incursions from happening again. However, given this company's past incompetence and poor business ethics -- or lack thereof -- we remain skeptical.

The Desktop And Mobile Experiences Are Quite Different

That certainly is true when it comes to aesthetics. The reason being is because when we compared the desktop and mobile versions, they looked like they were developed by different people – and as it turned out, they were. As we previously covered, the original AFF was created and maintained by Andrew Cornu and his staff, while a more "recent" version was created specifically for iOS devices by one Geoffrey Martin. The latter, as it turns out, called Adult Friend Finder: meet&chat, is no relation to the official AFF brand. Strangely, the original website doesn't have their mobile version available on major mobile apps like the Apple or Android app stores. Instead, to install AFF's official mobile version, the best way to get access to the AFF app you will have to get it through a browser download. However, we do not recommend doing that since AFF’s maximalist design does not translate well on small-screened smartphones and tablets. And that applies both to the app and using the normal site on a mobile device's internet browser. Instead, the best way to experience AdultFriendFinder is on a traditional device.

What We Like About Adult And Why You Might Like AdultFriendFinder

Arguably the biggest draw to Adult Friend Finder are the enormous number of people who have been drawn to join the site. After all, this is one of the oldest and largest hookup sites on the web. So, with nearly 100,000 users, you are nearly guaranteed to find several if not an indefinite number of people to chat, date, or copulate with. And with a thorough series of well-designed search and filter features, finding someone is extraordinarily easy. While having some additional features is not uncommon for some hookup sites and is typical of most dating platforms, Adult Friend Finder has far more than almost any other. Between the chat rooms, blogs, forums, and other social and publishing features really make AFF standout. On that note, we should note here that the community tends to be rather friendly and, for the most part, free of flame wars and weirdos. Of course, this is a bit of praise, which is rather niche, but we think that we should highlight the enormous number of features that promote group sex, swinging, and similar sexual or romantic encounters. Those who are into sex with multiple partners, and especially those who are thinking about experimenting in that, you should consider joining AFF. The community there is very welcoming to newbies of that variety.

What We Hate About And How We Would Improve AdultFriendFinder

Despite all of its exemplary features, there are a number of problems with AdultFriendFinder, both past and present, which we believe users should be aware of. We brought up previously the number of issues with data breaches as well as customer abuse, which we think stems back to the same source: managerial incompetence. In the short-term, we would task customer service staff to actively identify and permaban phishers as well as other suspicious accounts. We would add stronger tools to report spammers and data miners. Along with that, we would replace all of the saved data of deleted accounts with those of known phishers to prevent them from opening up new accounts. While we cannot be sure, we predict that replacing most of the members of C-suite and scrutinizing the heads of data management and web development staff would improve the site. That in combination with developing more robust tools, secure the site from hacking, would prevent any major, future problems. Since the original vision of its founder Andrew Cornu has evolved, so too should the way that AFF is run. Lastly, while it is nice that they did include a free-to-join option, the fact that you can watch videos without charge but cannot read or send messages without paying is somewhat strange.

How Do We Rank This Dating Platform?

As we have brought up previously, while its aesthetic design and responsiveness is excellent, there are some deeper, structural issues with AFF. Of these, the most concerning is the potential abuse of personal information, particularly payment data, by AdultFriendFinder itself. On the other hand, despite its flaws, it cannot be denied that Adult Friend Finder has a much larger pool than most other dating sites on the web. From what we have found, communicating, and hooking up with other members is common for most users, even in rural areas in several countries. Further, the number of tools available to find dates and one-time dames puts this site above a dense digital sea of competition. Consequently, we have to recommend this site, especially if you are looking to join the hookup culture. Nonetheless, we recommend being very careful when exchanging information with other users and monitoring your scheduled payments with your AFF membership. Considering all of this, we give AdultFriendFinder three out of five hands.