Meetup.com Review

I use several methods of social networking such as Yahoo Groups, Facebook and even starting tweet tweeting at Twitter but Meetup.com is the first site I have seen that successfully takes social or professional networking away from the Internet and back to the real world. 

Meetup.com is a social and professional networking online service that does charge a fee for groups.  On the site you create a profile, and then you are notified of groups in your area with the same interests - whether social or professional.  For example I use Meetup.com for one of my mother's groups but also for meeting other freelance writers in my area and comparing "notes."  I also have been involved in a "green parents" group from meet up where parents can compare notes and schedule family friendly activities for meeting.  

You can create your profile for free, however to join a group you may be asked to pay a fee to off set the charges the organizer of your particular group will have already spent to form the group.  The average cost per person is $5.00 but sometimes you can find a sponsor to subsidize the Meetup.com charges, someone, service, group, or product who does so in order to promote their business etc. 

My Viewpoint:  Meetup.com really does take networking off the internet into real life.  You have to ask to join a group and the organizer has to approve your application in many cases. Each group makes its own rules for attendance, safety, security, and privacy settings.  Meetup.com provides the group with an online calendar, greetings and messages, a discussion board, and many other tools in order to organize your group and photos.  I like that there are security features and privacy settings. 

What don't I like about Meetup.com? 

I think I would rather have annoying google ads and such that I can just ignore than pay for my memberships.  If you join several groups (say one for professional, one for social, one for parenting) the fees can really start to add up.  It is also important to not sign up for too many Meetups as you can really get overwhelmed with events and activities. Lastly, the security of your group and site is dependant on your organizer, so your Meetup could end up being open to the public and then anyone could see your photos and such.  Even with privacy settings I have know pictures to be stolen from homepages alone - along with names and such. 

Overall Meetup.com is very easy to use, you can easily find new people after moving, find those that share your interests, politics, parenting styles or whatever.  You get out of it what you put into it. As always privacy and security should be a primary concern so make sure you join those groups that share your goals in that area, as well as exercise discretion and security when attending meetups.