Meetup (website)
| 250px | |
| Web address | meetup.com |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
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Type of site
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Social networking |
| Registration | Required to join a group |
| Available in | English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, German |
| Owner | Meetup Inc. |
| Launched | June 12, 2002[1] |
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Alexa rank
|
 367 (May 2015[update])[2] |
Meetup is an online social networking portal that facilitates offline group meetings in various localities around the world. Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest, such as politics, books, games, movies, health, pets, careers or hobbies. Meetup, Inc. is based in New York City.
Users enter their city or their postal code and tag the topic they want to meet about. The website/app helps them locate a group to arrange a place and time to meet. Topic listings are also available for users who only enter a location.
Meetup receives revenue by charging fees to organizers of groups. Currently US$9.99/month for their basic plan, which includes max. 4 organizers and max. 50 members. The unlimited pricing starts at US$14.99/month.[3][4]
The website and associated app also allow users to contact meetup group members through a messaging platform and comments left on individual event listings. After each event and email is shared that allows users to click "Good to see you" and establish further connection with group members.
History
Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the site's co-founder Scott Heiferman publicly stated in 2011 that the manner in which people in New York City came together in the aftermath of that traumatic event inspired him to use the Internet to make it easier for people to connect with strangers in their community.[5]
Launching on June 12, 2002, it quickly became an organizing tool for a variety of common interests including fan groups, outdoor enthusiasts, community activists, support groups, and more.
The Howard Dean campaign incorporated internet-based grassroots organization after learning Meetup members were outpacing traditional organization methods.[6] Having changed the political landscape, it is still being used for political campaigns today.
On February 27 and March 1, 2014, a denial-of-service attack forced Meetup's website offline.[7][8]
On, July 10, 2015, Meetup announced a new pricing plan update.[3][4]
As of August 2015[update] the company claimed to have 22.77 million members in 180 countries and 210,240 groups,[9] although these figures may include inactive members and groups.
See also
Other meeting exchange networksReferences
External links
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- Pages with broken file links
- Articles containing potentially dated statements from August 2012
- Articles containing potentially dated statements from August 2015
- Official website not in Wikidata
- Event management companies
- Social planning websites
- Politics and technology
- Social networking services
- Internet-based activism
- Technology in society
- Internet properties established in 2001
- Companies based in New York City
