Meetup Everywhere

My last post was about identifying like-minded users on Twitter with Bit.ly. In this post, I introduce the new Meetup.com tool, "Meetup Everywhere" (recognize a trend?).

Some background for those unfamiliar with Meetup:

Meetup was founded way back in 2001, largely in response to critiques brought about by Robert Putnam and others that the Internet (and other forms of technomedia, e.g. TV/Radio) is eroding community and social life in America. Meetup, at the time, provided a revolutionary new way to connect the online with the offline, and facilitated the growth of countless niche groups. In essence, the platform created an easy way for like-minded people to locate one another and then connect in person. With thousands of progressive activists using Meetup.com by 2004, the site is largely cited as the platform that facilitated Howard Dean's rapid rise from relative obscurity to the national stage.

Meetup Everywhere, launched just weeks ago, is a tool designed to jump-start national (and international) movements. Instead of creating a thousand atomized Meetup groups (e.g. Meetup OFA DC, Meetup OFA NYC, Meetup OFA LA), Meetup Everywhere allows an organization or a campaign to create an issue-based umbrella group -- a Meetup Everywhere page (e.g. Obama for America) -- and then allows supporters to create localized event pages affiliated with that Everywhere page:

"What's the difference between Meetup Everywhere and Meetup Groups?

Meetup Groups are started by individuals to create community about something in their town, while Meetup Everywhere is for organizations, companies, and movements to enable their fans/followers/customers/audience to create community about them, everywhere."

(source: http://www.meetup.com/everywhere/)

Meetup Everywhere provides community organizers a better tool for nationwide movement building because it allows the former network of disconnected campaigns to affiliate with one another, incorporate a consistent national brand/message, and allows national organizers to cultivate coordinated networks of supporters. And notably, the site lowers the barrier to entry by enabling the OAuth protocol, which allows users to bypass account creation; if you're logged into Facebook, and press join, you're up and running with one (or two?) clicks of the mouse. With its ease of use, and scalable approach, the Meetup Everywhere model, I think, promises to remake online advocacy within the coming years.

Learn more: http://www.meetup.com/everywhere/