Meetup (website)

WeWork Buys Meetup - Here's How Meetup.com Will Change

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Meetup is an online social networking service intended to help people create and join group meetings, off-line, face-to-face.

Video Meetup (website)

History

Launched on June 12, 2002, Meetup became an organizing tool for a variety of interests including hobbyists, fan groups, outdoor enthusiasts, community activists, support groups, and more. However, despite allowing members to declare an interest in "Singles", dating and singles groups are prohibited., Motivation and inspiration came from Robert Putnam's 2000 book, Bowling Alone, which is about building social capital as well as by observing people's behavior in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Among the first users of Meetup were virtual communities such as BookCrossing, Slashdot, and LiveJournal. Slashdot's membership dates to June 17, 2002, five days after the launch. On July 25, 2002, Slashdot used the Meetup platform to schedule and arrange a worldwide gathering of 5,000 members. In 2004, Meetup gained notoriety and membership growth as the grassroots backbone of the Howard Dean presidential campaign, as well as for the campaigns of John Kerry and Wesley Clark, attracting over 100,000 members to each of their respective groups. In 2005 it helped launch the Five Star Movement in Italy, now a major political party. In February 2017, Meetup hosted 1,000+ free groups under the hashtag #Resist. In November 2017, WeWork acquired Meetup.