Social Network

The social Networking tool I chose to select is meetup.com. I have heard a lot of good things about the social site, so I thought to check it out. The site allows you to connect in person with different interest groups throughout the country. For example, interest groups can range from, cycling groups, to business groups, to pet lover groups. You name your interest, and there might be a meet up group for it. If there isn’t one, you can create your own meet up group too.

 I selected the site because I saw a Minnesota Entrepreneur group that interested me. There were also other MN business groups that sound cool too.

 The site was very easy to sign up. It allowed me to sign up using my Google or Facebook account too. It pulled information from those accounts to populate, and then asked for my interests or interests groups I would like to know more about. I could also add a photo and give a description of myself. I could skip those sections and go back to it later. Other than that, it is very simple to sign up for meet up groups.

 Many people have been using this site to find other people with same interests. Others have used it to network their business. Others have used it as a singles site too. Others have used it to create a new groups to meet up. It is like taking your own e-portfolio and meeting with people who share similar interests.

 I would use Meet Up to share ideas or get new ideas from people who are small business owners. I think I could learn a lot from this meet up experience. Mostly, I would use it professionally, but there are a few personal groups that sound interesting too.

 I would want my social network site to say I’m willing to meet with other people to talk about similar interest on business.

 For a face to face meet up group, you don’t have to tell everything about yourself. You can keep as private or open as you want to be. Just talk about your interests. So you can protect your identity as much as you want. I am not sure I need to protect too much, if I trust the group I a meeting. I would say, use discretion for groups you are not too familiar with.

I learned that meeting new can be intimidating. So perhaps messaging a few people on Facebook in the meet-up group might be a good idea beforehand. Or go with a buddy. It will allow you to get to know a few people before meeting them. Have an open mind.