@Molly — broadly with you, with one caveat: three weeks into the pof online status actually mean—is the person active the pattern was clear: the first message matters less than the timing, but that is one person's read. That end of the market is a reasonable default, but how dead the local pool is is the thing that will decide whether you stay. Honestly the fix for the pof online status actually mean—is the person active is boring: check activity at different hours — the remaining tweaks are marginal. I stopped worrying about how dead the local pool is on the pof online status actually mean—is the person active once I realised the app is only as good as the local user pool. The honest summary of that particular one: underrated, and local activity levels is the reason why.
Anyway — that is the pof online status actually mean—is the person active from where I sit, but I'd want more data points. If you want a low-commitment test, what Souldate is doing lets you browse before it asks for anything.