Fun fact: When Meetup launched in 2002, Wiccan (as in, Witches) community groups were the most popular on the platform. A couple of years later Meetup became a popular platform for political candidates to build national grassroots campaigns. Now, as the best place to find real-life communities in over 180 countries worldwide, Meetup groups form around thousands of topics. To celebrate another decade of people getting together in real life, we took a look back at the last 10 years to see what new trends are emerging.
1 Baby Boomers seek new friendships
People need friends in all stages of life, including the empty-nester and retirement years. Over 50, Women Over 50 and Baby Boomers have been some of the fastest-growing topics on Meetup in the past decade. In 2018, the New York Times featured the L.A.-based Meetup group, Finding Female Friends Over 50, sparking a boom of similar Meetup groups to form worldwide. There are currently over 400 groups by similar titles across 5 continents.
2 Emerging technologies bring thinkers and creators together
When industries evolve, Meetup groups pop up. Over the last ten years we’ve seen tech professionals turn to Meetup to navigate evolving career paths, share ideas, learn about the latest tools and methodologies, and to help each other tackle their biggest, hairiest challenges. The most growth has been in Product Development, Agile Transformation, UX Design and Machine Learning. No matter your profession, it’s always nice to know that there are others nearby who think like you.
3 A healthy housing market attracts home buyers
Unlike a lot of things that you can find online, gaining a deep understanding of a local real estate market is often best achieved by meeting people in real life. Over the decade, as the U.S. recovered from the late-aughts housing crisis and millennials entered adulthood, we’ve seen a growing interest in real estate education on Meetup. Topics like Home Buyers, Beginner Real Estate Investing and Real Estate Networking have been some of the fastest-growing topics.
4 Book clubs get trendy
Celebrities and influencers have helped give rise—and a trendy new image—to the age-old concept of a book club, as Forbes recently noted. We’ve seen a similar trend on Meetup, with Book Clubs being one of the most popular growing topics in the past decade. Book clubs on Meetup tend to have a twist. A few of our favorites include A Book & A Beer of Philadelphia, PA, the Berlin Book Swap, or the Silent Book Club of Waukesha, WI, where people get together simply to read silently together.
5 Community is more important than ever
As the world grows more divided over politics and ideologies, finding ways to connect at a local level has become more important than ever. Community Building has been one of the fastest-growing topics on Meetup in recent years. Walk2Connect, a Colorado-based Meetup group that promotes community building through simple neighborhood walks, started in 2012 and has grown over the decade into a statewide nonprofit organization. Watch their story (it’ll give you all the feels).
Last modified on September 22, 2023
