Certs: What are they good for?

[JustAskJulie]

One reason we don't accept certs is that we ourselves use them more as a screening tool than a verification one.

I was already thinking this and then Chicup kinda hit it on the head of what I was thinking, so I thought I'd post it.

Do you use certs to actually verify that people are "real" or do you use them more as a screening tool? Or do you just not even look for/at them at all?

[km34]

I pretty much ignore certs on couples, because I can usually tell pretty easily if someone is faking it.

Singles, though... I really like to see certs. It means they are legit and not too flaky (a little flaky, I can handle ).

I rarely trust what certs actually say since people are different depending who is around, so they are more of a "verify a single is real before attempting a meet" kind of thing for me.

[sunbuckus]

Personally, I use certs to make they do have some experience and that they don't cause drama. That's it. I don't care if their certs talk about how great they are in bed. If we play with them, then time will tell in that department. Sometimes, I do wonder when a couple doesn't have any recent certs though.

[angelkin]

I like to see a few certs to weed out the fakes...and when we're interested in someone, we look at their certs to see if they have friends that are similar in body type/age/interests in us. It helps us feel comfortable about contacting someone we might feel is out or our league if their certs lead us to believe they could be interested in us.

[ALilOEverything]

We like experienced couples so I like to see at least a couple certs. We maintain one cert a year to show we are still currently playing and that we have some experience. I don't generally read them or read into them.

[shrevecouple]

I was already thinking this and then Chicup kinda hit it on the head of what I was thinking, so I thought I'd post it.

Do you use certs to actually verify that people are "real" or do you use them more as a screening tool? Or do you just not even look for/at them at all?

I will admit I used it more as a screening tool. Folks would probably not think it fair but yes if it was obvious they played with people that I felt were "nasty" I would move on as far as considering play.

[cplnuswing]

Certs are probably about the only swinging thing where me and her have a totally different approach. I don't pay much if any attention to them, in fact I usually don't even think to look. She on the other hand looks at certs and sometimes even certs of certs for the exact same reason as Angelkin does.

I like to see a few certs to weed out the fakes...and when we're interested in someone, we look at their certs to see if they have friends that are similar in body type/age/interests in us. It helps us feel comfortable about contacting someone we might feel is out or our league if their certs lead us to believe they could be interested in us.

Not saying the Mrs. totally bases her decision on the certs, but it is something she factors in. We ourselves only have a couple of older certs and that is by choice. Enough to show we are who we say we are, but that is about it. We realize that doesn't seem to make a lot sense, studying others but not giving them much to study about you, but hey, it works for us.

[Playful1]

i do look at them. if the person has been on the site for a long time, and has none, it makes me pause. if they claim to be open to full swap, but all their certs are soft swap folks, it makes me pause.

i actually see a large number of certs from people who sound like they really play, to be a good thing. my read on a profile is usually accurate, but, the certs do help back it up, or make me go "huh, ok, they have certs from people I know definitely play."

i basically use them as an extra filter. They will not turn me off a couple I am very into, or into a couple I am just not attracted to, but, if I am on the fence, they will sway me one way or the other.

That said, i also know a lot of people will not cert folks they have played with because they worry about being attached to that couple, and vice versa, some folks wont accept certs because they dont want to seem "slutty" (don't get me started on that whole bs concept).

I do think that for single women, they can be very useful as they can show that the woman is real. So many are fake, that having several certs from real couples, can go a long way.

[sweet_tna]

For me, they serve as a bit of indulgence for my curiosity (read: I'm nosy). I can't think of a time when anyone's certifications have made any real difference in whether or not we chose to play or continue contact with someone.

We have a few certs on our profile, primarily from when we first started and felt they were more necessary than we've discovered them to be. We've left them on our profile for the same reason we accepted them--they're flattering and make us (well, me) feel good to read them.

=)

[MJPanzer]

We do many of the same things....use them as a screening tool, and also because we're nosy and find it interesting to see who they have met/played with.....

[Learning]

I have always looked at certs as being a tool to say "there's no way they will swing with us" or "maybe there's a chance". It's a great temperature guage to see the type of people couples tend to want to swing with. It's also good to see if they tend to have scary people on their certs, it's a pass for us.

[SW_PA_Couple]

. . . It's also good to see if they tend to have scary people on their certs, it's a pass for us.

That that is an interesting thought. If seems to me that if we accumulate a greater number of certifications, the probability that a prospective "new customer" will perceive at least one of them as being scary increases.

[Learning]

Scary to me in my sense is my intuition mostly. When we were active there were two couples in particular that hit my spidey sense so it was like "mmm run run run" from those.

[slevin]

I have always looked at certs as being a tool to say "there's no way they will swing with us"

I think you probably sell yourself short with this. There is a good chance that the people who leave the certs are not the only type of people a couple plays with. They're just the ones who left the certs. You are far too hard on yourself when it comes to looks/weight

[Learning]

I think you probably sell yourself short with this. There is a good chance that the people who leave the certs are not the only type of people a couple plays with. They're just the ones who left the certs. You are far too hard on yourself when it comes to looks/weight

Guilty as charged so Yes and Yes. I had too thin skin for swinging but that's how we rolled when we were active. We assumed the worst. Funny though, one of our friends volunteered that my husband was the only one so far in the past 5 years of swinging to get her off and she's been when some stellar people so it's not all about looks I just need to remember that.