Find like-minded people to hang out with
Meetup is an online service that allows you to create and join groups of like-minded people. It's designed for making new friends in your area and arranging activities with them.
The site has a large user community, meaning that you're almost certain to find a Meetup group that interests you where you live. Simply type a topic or interest into the search box, then enter your city or zip code and you can see all the matching groups in your area.
Group pages in Meetup are very well organized thanks to the templates they are built with. Besides reading about what the group does, you can enter ideas, see members' profiles, look at photos, participate in the message boards, and sign up to mailing lists.
If you want to create your own Meetup group it'll cost you a fee, but if you're really interested in starting up a club in your area, it's an ideal solution. Meetup lets you choose from a range of page templates, or create your own themes to pimp your group page. The process of creating a page is very simple too, thanks to the help and pointers that walk you through it.
Perhaps our main concern with Meetup is its lack of privacy options. You don't have the option of hiding your profile from people who aren't in your group or who you don't know. This might dissuade you from entering too much personal information in your profile, which is a shame.
If you're looking to make new friends in your town, Meetup is a great way of looking for people who share your specific interests.
