Meetup.com – The Real Life Social Network

Today I would like to feature another digital innovator snippet about the social network Meetup.com.

Meetup was started in 2001 by Scott Heiferman (see his story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n1BUk32T14), Matt Meeker and Peter Kamali. When September 11th happened they felt a new sense of community awaken in NYC that had led them to read “Bowling Alone.” The book talks about the decline of community in America due to society becoming more tech addicted causing people to spend more time alone instead of being engaged with others. The model of Meetup is meant to connect people in real life through an online social network platform – which in my opinion is a very necessary and valuable tool – it transfers the online experience to the real world (which is why I love Nike Plus so much). The network gained a lot of popularity through political meetups.

Originally its revenue was made from fees paid by venues but then it changed its model to organizer fees.

I think it’s an excellent tool both for small and large organizations to either become organizers for the brand or business meetups or to sponsor other organizaers in their meetup events. It offers a direct way to touch your target market by providing them with something really useful.

Some stats:

• 4.7 Million Members
• 5 Million Monthly Visitors
• 102,000 Monthly Meetups
• 4,916 Meetup Topics
• 3,601 Cities

Useful YouTube videos:

• How Meetup Works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnBpj9oMDDk
• Organizer story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLAHRTvTJpA

Happy 4th of July! I will be back blogging on Monday