Taking Social Networking Offline
June 25, 2007
At first, the Web didn’t look too promising an avenue for meeting new people, since the only ones who ever seem to contact me through my page on MySpace are spammers selling Viagra. Then a friend told me about MeetIn.org, an online social network designed to help people find new friends — not the romantic kind — to do fun stuff with in the real world.
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I started using MeetIn.org two months ago, having found myself a social butterfly with its wings clipped. My best friend had bought her first home and was busy caulking the bathtub and painting walls. Another buddy was getting ready for her first baby. Yet another was working two jobs. After spending one more Sunday weeding my yard, it dawned on me that I needed to find more friends to join me for hikes and concerts.
However, making new friends is not easy, even in Portland, Ore., a superfriendly city. I am too shy to initiate conversations with strangers at my favorite bookstore, the gym or lectures. At first, the Web didn’t look too promising, since the only new people who ever seem to contact me through my page on MySpace Latest News about MySpace are spammers selling Viagra. Then a friend told me about MeetIn.org, an online social network designed to help people find new friends — not the romantic kind — to do fun stuff with in the real world.
Millions Reach Beyond Cyberspace
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Apparently I’m not alone in my quest for offline friendships. Social networking sites that attempt to go beyond the conventional, online-only services offered by the likes of MySpace and Evite have been enjoying stellar growth. MeetIn’s user base has nearly doubled, vs. a year ago, to 75,000 people in 90 cities worldwide. Other sites focused on getting people together offline report strong growth as well. Launched five months ago, nightclub-oriented MingleNow.com already boasts 1 million users.
With MeetIn you set up a profile, which can include your photo, age and brief sections on education and interests (MeetIn’s largest and most active chapter is in Portland, where more than 6,600 people have created profiles). Each member can post invites to events — dinners, concerts, salsa dancing, Frisbee outings — for others to join. The Portland contingent posts about 150 events a month. Promotional and singles events are a no-no. “I was very, very nervous and apprehensive,” remembers Joanne Couchman, who came to her first MeetIn event in 2005, after she and her boyfriend relocated to Portland from the East Coast. “But I walked in and these people made me feel like I’ve known them forever.”
The similarly named MeetUp.com, which helps people find events ranging from scrapbooking to lectures on social justice, has seen the number of RSVPs on its site double in the past five months. To keep up with the growth, MeetUp plans to double its staff this year to 60 people, says Scott Heiferman, cofounder of the site. “We are growing faster than ever.”
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