In today’s modern world of technology, it’s not too complicated to find people on dating sites with a few clicks. However, in some cases, you may want to search for a specific username on an app like Plenty Of Fish and see the profile behind it. So; there are some options that allow you to look up that username and get it, but is that really possible when it’s hidden?
POF username search
If you want to see if someone has a profile on POF by their username for free, then, that’s not possible. The platform itself has strict privacy measures to block access from outside the system. In other words, browsing a profile on the dating app without having an account is not allowed. That was valid a few years ago, but the company has implemented additional security measures to prevent any data issues.
Now, the reality is this: You can’t see hidden profiles on Plenty Of Fish unless you create a paid account there. So after logging in to the app with your own credentials, there should be an option to search for guys or girls by username. That is an internal search feature that’s only accessible when you log in.
It’s not like Facebook where you get extra options to uncover those accounts. The dating platform is different.
Meaning of the hidden profile
In POF.com as in other dating apps, there are different privacy settings. That means members of the platforms can modify the way their profiles appear in internal searches. But also, there are options to block people on search engines to find their profile there.
So, when someone who doesn’t have an account with the app tries to look for specific details, he gets nothing from Google. The same principle applies to other search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo. Additionally, a private account means that POF.com will block users from finding it without actually being connected with them or exchanging messages with them.
Thus, when a user hides their profile on the platform, other users won’t be able to look them up in any way. The only exception, as I said, is when those two users have previously exchanged messages through the chat feature. Or if they’re already connected on the app.
The site offers such features to help users take a break for a while without dealing with their accounts. So even if the person has a profile on the site, others won’t get it unless the user makes the profile visible again.
Are there other ways to use it?
Depending on how the users on dating websites are configuring their privacy settings there, there are different possibilities. One of these is that people from outside the POF platform can run a reverse username search and see the profile behind it. In fact, these systems collected the data years ago by doing a deep web scan when the search by username feature was publicly available. Consequently, some of these tools may have already saved those details from years ago.
If the username you’re trying to find on the app is old, then try these options:
Use Google and type in the search box that exact username, and see if there are any images or details about it. But make sure you follow the next expression:
pof.com "username"In that example, I’m not talking about the actual profile behind it. Instead, we’re trying to trace that username to any existing information with Google. As a result, there could be some hints or suggestions about the person behind it. In some cases, the search engine indexes comments on social media sites or discussion forums. So, it’s a method that’s worth a try as it’s free.
Just like in the previous guides about Snapchat fake accounts, dating websites also include the same issues. Thus, by checking the data that Google provides, people can discover more information about users who impersonate them.
So what do username lookup tools do?
The web is full of tools that claim to offer such search functionalities. But when you try them, that’s a different story. From what I’ve tried with such tools, they only show old profiles. That means, that when someone wants to look up a username and see if it’s available on the Plenty Of Fish site, they get an outdated page.
After that, when clicking on that page, nothing happens. That’s because the site blocks viewing any information on someone’s profile unless you access that from a member’s account.
Conclusion
As you can see from my reach, browsing POF profiles by username is not as easy as it looks when these pages are hidden. Of course, there could be other methods to find people on the platform and see their details, but not as it was a few years ago. Only members of the app with paid plans can use the username search feature, which many find unhelpful. It seems that the company doesn’t want to expose the profiles of its members to free users.
Other than that, a hidden POF profile will remain invisible, no matter if you search for it by username or name. That being said, people with active connections with that person can find them by username.
