The time you spend with Meetup is an investment in yourself. Expanding your social circle, pursuing your hobbies, discovering new opportunities, adventuring through the world around you—these are the kinds of benefits you should get to experience as a Meetup member.
If you’re interested in taking advantage of all that Meetup has to offer, follow these eight tips for maximizing your membership. Getting started is free and easy. With this guide, you’ll have no trouble making genuine human connections in a community that suits you.
1. Create your account
It all starts here. Your Meetup account is the cornerstone of this friend platform. While you don’t need to register to simply view groups and events, you will need an account to get updates, join groups, and attend events. So sign up for a Meetup account today! There’s no cost to join Meetup as a member, and you’ll be exploring worlds of social possibility in minutes.
2. Find events
It’s super intuitive. Finding an event is as easy as plugging in your location and a topic to the search bar on Meetup’s Find page. There are several filters to help you narrow down your search and land on exactly what you had in mind. You can limit your search to specific dates, times, locations, and categories. Or, if you’re feeling bold, try out the Starting Soon filter to dive into an event happening in the next hour!
3. Download the app
Having Meetup at your fingertips means you can stay connected to your communities on the go. With a sleek look and easy-to-use interface, the Meetup mobile app is a must-have for socialites across the globe. In fact, travel experts recommend using Meetup while vacationing to meet locals and discover authentic social experiences in a new city.
4. Join your first group
Joining a group ensures that you’ll receive a notification each time that group hosts a new event. With one click, you can become an active and valued member of whatever community inspires you, whether you’re into running, visiting art galleries, or just some run-of-the-mill underwater hockey!
One community that stands out as a great option for newcomers is Meetup Live. With more than 99,000 members, it’s the single largest group on Meetup, and it has weekly events on topics such as:
- Career advice
- Making friends
- Getting the most out of your Meetup experience
- Mindfulness
- Picking up new hobbies
- Current Events
5. Make new friends by attending events
If you’re feeling any anxiety about the small talk aspect of attending your first event with a new group, check out this helpful guide for having a conversation with someone you just met. The best advice is to just be yourself, and know that a little awkwardness is 100% normal. Don’t give up: try connecting over the shared interests that brought the two of you to this event in the first place.
Like any skill, it can take some practice to get the hang of vibing with a new group. In general, it’s best to attend a group’s events more than once before quitting. In the end, a group may not be a good fit for you after all, and that’s okay! There are plenty of fish in the sea. But you’ll struggle to make real connections if you don’t give them a sincere try.
6. Follow Meetup on social media
If you want to stay up-to-date with all the happenings on the platform, you can follow Meetup on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. These pages often share stories from real people having real fun all around the world through Meetup. Plus, you never know who you might connect with as mutual followers!
7. Listen to Meetup’s Keep Connected podcast
Keep Connected, hosted by Meetup CEO David Siegel, is a conversation show about the power of community. Tune in to hear inspiring stories of how Meetup connections have changed lives, and learn from experts who demonstrate how bringing people together leads to health, happiness, and success. You may be inspired to branch out more, or even start your own Meetup group.
8. Once you find your way, stick with it
When you feel like you’ve got the hang of the platform, be free to explore whatever, whenever, however you want! Connecting over shared passions is a beautiful part of life that can’t be boxed up into a single shape or size. As long as you’re having fun, you’re doing it right.
Last modified on March 17, 2022
