Successful Online Dating

Major Pitfall of Online Dating

One of the major pitfalls of online dating is that you don’t meet the other person until the high pressure of a first date. I have always had a much easier time when I meet someone through a friend, and we have a couple of “group” events. There is time to see if there is any chemistry, and a chance to explore shared interests. There is also the safety net of knowing people in common.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could combine the comfort of meeting someone through friends with the potential of online dating? It’s possible there is.

Meeting at Meetup

I am going to be, over the next several months, exploring a new way of meeting people. It’s called Meetup – and of course their website is Meetup.com.

Meetup has a great tagline: “Use the Internet to get off the Internet.” What is this site all about? From their about page:

Meetup is the world's largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities.

Meetup's mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.

Find a Group With Common Interests

Basically, you search for groups close to you that share a common interest. There are then monthly events that you can attend. For example, I joined a local “beer lover’s group.” So when I go to my first event, I’ll be around people who at least share a common enjoyment of beer, and have a desire to be out of the house and social.

Some hopeful statistics (again, from their site)

• Monthly Visitors: 5 million (Over all visits to their site)
• Members: 4.7 million
• Monthly RSVP’s: 1.7 million (You RSVP to events)
• Monthly events: 102,000
• Local Groups: 46,315
• Meetup Topics: 4,916
• Cities: 3,601

They offer events, called Meetups, on all kinds of topics such as hiking, wine appreciation, political groups, books, single parents and so on. Are you looking for a group for people who like to crochet hats for birds? You can even start a group if what you are looking for does not exist.

Meeting New and Interesting People

I will be attending my first event later this month (August) and will attend several before I write my final verdict. What I am looking for is the potential to meet new and interesting people, if one of them happens to be someone with a romantic potential, that’s even better. I want to know if this is a viable alternative to the dating sites out there. If you have had an experience with Meetup, good or bad, we would love your comments.

Check Back!

So check back in the future for more information about Meetup.

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