6 AdultFriendFinder features other hookup sites lack

AdultFriendFinder has been in the hookup game for literally decades. Launching online in 1996 — truly the dark ages of the internet — AFF soon established itself as the No. 1 adult dating site. In other words, AFF has been hooking people up for 30 years, making it the go-to platform for singles, casual flings, and kink-based fun.

AFF has also stayed strong through major changes in the dating game and online culture. It's survived the emergence of dating apps like Tinder, which have otherwise taken over the dating game, while maintaining its original identity. The result is that it still stands out from the crowd. Which is no mean feat. The world of online dating is hugely competitive, with all kinds of apps drawing daters' attentions in various alternative directions.

If you're looking to let your freak flag fly loud and proud — and why not? Just go for it, we say — AFF offers you the best variety of ways to explore and indulge in kink-based fun. To help get you started, here's a round-up of six great features on AdultFriendFinder — features you won't find on any other dating sites.

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Naked content

The first thing to notice when you register for an AFF account (and you could hardly miss it) is that the site doesn't exactly shy away from nudity. You'll find it in every corner of AFF and all over its interface. Indeed, it's very common for users' profile photos to contain genitalia close-ups or full-frontal nudity rather than the usual headshot you get on more typical dating sites. What better way to set out your stall on the world's spiciest hookup site?

You can also post videos on your profile, including explicit videos, and there are webcam feeds live at any given time with amateur and professional models in various states of undress and pleasure. 

If you find yourself distracted by all of the nudity or just want to browse the site in public without having NSFW imagery all over your screen, you can turn on the adult content filter by navigating to your profile settings in the top right of the screen, then scrolling down to Content Filter and selecting either No Nudity, Some Nudity, or Everything (the default setting, naturally). Be warned, the default setting is to have all that nudity front and center. And it's best to avoid checking AFF while you're public, no matter what filters you have in place.

Live webcam feeds

We know that webcam sites are rife — there's no shortage of places to find cam-based naughtiness — but it's rare to find an actual dating site that hosts live webcam action. With AFF, you'll get both professional models and regular users on webcam feeds.

All you need to do is go to the Live Action menu at the top of your AFF window and click either Member Webcams or Pro Models. Once you've selected your preference, there are even more specific search filters, including gender (Men, Women, or Trans), Nude or Non-Nude, and even by proximity to your location.

One thing to note, however: while free members can view webcam feeds, only Gold members and above can actually chat with models. Gold members can also watch multiple webcam feeds at the same time.

Discussion forums, blogs, and group chats

Unlike traditional dating sites, which focus solely on one-on-one matches, AdultFriendFinder encourages group dynamics, especially in its Community section. Here you'll find personal blog posts by AFF users who share their experiences, tell stories, and post questions. You'll also find group discussion boards organized around literally hundreds of interesting topics. Many of these are sexual in nature (there's a polyamory group, for example, and a "women who like older men" group), but many are based on regular interests and hobbies, including politics, tech, travel, movies, and music. 

Mashable Trend Report

Best of all, you can participate in these communal discussions without subscribing to AFF's Gold membership, which helps keep these spaces livelier than they would otherwise be if only paying members could access them. 

Erotic stories

Fun fact: Erotic fiction now accounts for approximately 25 percent of all fiction sold in the United States, so it's hardly surprising that erotic writing ("literotica" for those in the know) would be a major draw. What is surprising, however, is how few online dating sites take advantage of it.

AdultFriendFinder members who wish to read or write sexy stories, real or imagined, can navigate to the Community menu and select Stories, which unlocks a near-unlimited array of stories, novels, fan fiction, and erotic poetry. 

If you're feeling adventurous, you can explore the stories at random, but AFF also deploys a clever tagging system that allows you to search by topic, with popular options including First Time, Sci-Fi, TSTV (trans and transvestite), and Voyeur. 

Popular stories achieve higher ratings and greater on-site visibility, and popular authors can actually build a large following on the site, so whether you're eager to read more erotic fiction or aspire to write some, AFF has you covered. 

Contests

One of the more fun aspects of AdultFriendFinder is that it genuinely seeks to cultivate a sense of community and actively encourages its users to spend more time on the site, especially in the public-facing sections. Their on-site contests are a fantastic example of this in action. 

About once per month, the site hosts a themed photo contest, asking members to submit photos and then allowing the rest of the site to vote on which submissions best reflect or embody the contest caption. 

One recent photo contest theme was "Velvet Secrets: Valentine's Masquerade," while prior contests included "Naughty & Nice" for the holidays and "Midnight Mischief." Winners get a special badge they can display on their profile, plus tons more profile visibility, so there's a strong incentive to participate. 

To enter, scroll to the Community menu and then find Contests at the very bottom of the options list. If there's an active contest and you are logged in to your account, you'll be given the option of participating.

Kink-based profile search

Every online dating site or app has a profile section, where you can fill out pertinent personal information such as your sexual orientation, level of education, and whatever hobbies, interests, or special skills you have that might make you stand out from the crowd, but AdultFriendFinder takes things a step further by offering members the opportunity to list their kinks.

If you navigate to your profile name in the top right of your AFF screen and then select Dating Profile and Edit Profile, you'll find your My Kinks section. Popular options here include BDSM, voyeurism, and cross-dressing, but the full list is far more extensive. Nothing (that's legal, of course) is off limits. AFF is a place to not only indulge in your kinks and fantasies but to also to discover some you never knew you had.

If you have a premium account, you can actually search out other members by their chosen kinks, allowing you to find users in your area who like exhibitionism or have a foot fetish, for example. In other words, you can find your kink-minded people.

There's no shortage of online dating sites, and even no shortage of hookup-first sites, but when it comes to adult dating, AFF clearly separates itself from the competition with its wide array of kink-friendly features and accommodations.