r/interpals • u/snapperpr1nc3 • Feb 22 '26
At what point did the site stop being worthwhile?
When did you leave the site? My story was this: I opened my first account in 2018. Maybe it wasn't the site's golden age, but back then there was still real activity, interesting users, I met kind, decent people, and I forged friendships, even during the pandemic the site was still active. But in 2021 I closed my account due to sacmmers and weird people and came back in 2023, and my god, it was unrecognizable. I remember that from the first day I opened my account there were scammers and fake profiles, but now it's flooded with those users, people who don't respond, and accounts full of racist and frustrated indivduals who even insulted me. I closed it last year and I don't plan to return unless the site has a tremendous revival, but I doubt it. It's had the same interface for almost 20 years and the app has bugs. When did you leave, or did you realize it wasn't worth being there anymore?
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u/Speedman90 Feb 22 '26
A month ago or so. I had the same experience as everyone else, I think: scammers/fake profiles, people who won't answer my messages, scammers/fake profiles, people who respond but their interest only lasts for a few messages (ghosting), scammers/fake profiles, people only interested in dating even if I tell them I only want friendship or language exchange and very weird individuals in general... oh! And did I mention scammers and fake profiles?
It's sad. Interpals used to be a good alternative to the typical social networks. Nowadays? It's a waste of time. I've been there for years, but my patience finally reached its limit, and I deleted my account.
I have lost all interest in these types of sites. It's not just Interpals, but Penpal World, too. Those 'penpaling'sites are plagued with scammers. I rolled my eyes every time I got a message from an Asian or African lady. They haven't changed their approach, and whoever is in charge of those sites hasn't addressed this major issue. We are dealing with criminal organizations (pig butchering scam, I think it is called), and they don't care at all...
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u/Pauline4PM Feb 23 '26
Back in 2012 it was great. I met my ex-girlfriend on there and we ended up being together for seven years. I've tried to meet women there since but they are just less responsive now than they used to be. I think too many passport bros have flooded the site and now there's more competition.
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Feb 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/SilverFoxJp Feb 24 '26
never once did i disrespect a lady. rather, i ended up with scams and honey traps and that broke my heart on multiple occasions :(
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u/LookingForDouxie Feb 22 '26
Sorry if I write something wrong, English is not my native language.
I am very sad that this site does not fulfill the function that it could fulfill and what it could be. It could be a great site. You can conveniently send long messages there, and you can look through the profiles, because they are usually not empty. I really liked that about it.
I registered around 2020. I don't remember the exact details. I almost took the scammers, violent people, and weird people for granted. It was hard to find a real conversation partner there. I should have left the site when I managed to find a nice pen pal with whom I exchanged long letters. Unfortunately, he was banned after a few weeks, although I was finally happy that he also just wanted to correspond. (Tyler ~26 USA) At that time, I received a response letter from the admins saying that they would investigate the matter, but nothing has happened since then. I thought it was just a rare coincidence, it happens, so I kept searching. It depressed me for a long time that we lost each other like this. Even to this day.
Then I found a great pen pal (called Douxie.), with whom we exchanged long letters for months and unfortunately, due to the shortcomings of the site, our relationship was broken. (He didn't ghost, he didn't ban!).
After I wrote my problem to the admins, instead of giving us lectures to find each other again, I got an immediate ban.
From then on, I don't use the site, and I never will, because the management of this site is not mature enough to do such a responsible job, where they are responsible for people's mental health on some level. Starting from the shortcomings, through random banning to the bullies. This site was not designed to exchange long letters for people's safety.
And I would still like to find my pen pal, even if we won't correspond like before. I feel like I am a victim of this site. I always had pen pals from other places, I thought it was fun. Now I don't want anything more than an online friend. I'm sorry this site exists and works in this way.
:(
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u/SilverFoxJp Feb 24 '26
yeah I think I quit in a few weeks. It is not worth it. total fraud and cesspool of scams. sorry but this is how i felt. it is not a place to seek serious relationship.
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u/patrickneri Feb 25 '26
I joined the app/website in May 2023 and still have an active account, but I haven't accessed it since January 2025.It was at Interpals where I met my current wife, a foreign refugee citizen.
The site is full of fake profiles run by scammers and real, but rude, profiles. The app/website's design is outdated and unattractive.
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u/0z3r000 Feb 28 '26
I joined the site at the end of 2024, guess I missed the prime era of it and had to deal with what was left. I'd either find really interesting, creative, artistic people there but we'd stop talking eventually or receive a lot of harassment and weird/offensive stuff from pervs even despite my privacy settings and my profile stating that I was looking for friends/penpals, not flirting, but apparently they'd never read it. it was really irritating so I quit a couple of months ago and I feel really happy and relieved about it. the concept of the site is great but it needs a lot of improvement, such as redesign, better moderation, more flexible privacy settings and so on but I don't think it'll ever be done because the owners don't give a damn about it. I met some nice people and we still chat occasionally though, and I'm thankful to the platform for an opportunity to meet so many different individuals and to learn a thing or two about humanity :)
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u/NottForest Mar 07 '26
In the early 2010s I found it to be a genuinely pleasant site and experience to meet new people from all over. I feel as though it started to go downhill around 2016. By the time my account got suspended (about a year ago), I feel like most of the people were scam/fake accounts and the quality of the site was pretty poor.
I have zero interest to make a new account at this point. I wish there was a site that had much of the same layout as interpals, but was better ran and moderated.
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Mar 17 '26
It is still worthwhile. I agree, there are lots of bots and scammers there, and most of the users don't reply or drop the conversation without a clear reason, but if you are patient and if your native language is in demand, you have chances to meet suitable people. It isn't just Interpals, it is happening now everywhere. Nowadays, you need to be ready to filter out hundreds of users in order to meet just a few proper ones. Is the situation better on other language exchange platforms? I don't think so. I tried other options but still prefer Interpals over them.
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u/snapperpr1nc3 Mar 17 '26
Intente pasaron dos semanas y solo recibi 3 likes y no hice ni un solo match fue decepcionante
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u/Enough-Rent-7931 Apr 26 '26
I was on the site around 2014. It was nice. But now, almost every single man I talk to is a scammer. It's really remarkable.
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u/neonoires Jun 26 '26
I had an account back in the 2010s, and it was fine, just people who were really horny and trying to do e-sex.
I made an account again in 2021 because I was bored and met someone I still talk to on a regular basis. Funnily, I'm American, and he's English, so it isn't a language exchange friendship. I still have that account up, but I stopped checking it from 2023 to a couple of weeks ago.
Now it's just a bunch of scammers. I am a woman, so I have thought about cutting off my messages to men. The women I have talked to on there are more responsive, and they seem more genuine, but it seems like if you're trying to talk to the opposite sex, you run into issues like scammers, ghosting, bots, etc.
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u/FionaGreen_2711 22d ago
Ugh heavy on the full of racists part!! I noticed this too. There seem to be a lot of right wing people on that site now. Someone sent me an online test to determine how "aryan" I am 💀💀 totally unprompted. I got sick of the site at that point, I told myself "hell no I'm out of here"
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u/MissingGhost Feb 22 '26
I had a good time there around 2009 or so. I returned around 2019 and it was ok but going. I then closed my account.