Someone is buying Meetup
January 11, 2024 1:40 PM Subscribe
announcement Probable new owner: Bending Spoons - "a technology company that owns and develops a suite of category-leading consumer products including Remini (an AI-powered photo enhancer), Splice (a mobile video editor), and Evernote..."
They did a great job ruining Evernote over the last year.
posted by Captaintripps at 1:59 PM on January 11 [14 favorites]
posted by Captaintripps at 1:59 PM on January 11 [14 favorites]
Maybe they'll buy WotC next and then they can rename the conglomerate Evermeet.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:15 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:15 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
Meetup was acquired by WeWork in 2017, who sold it to a venture firm in 2020. It's been a football for a while.
I tried to log in to Meetup in early January, only to be told my 16yo account had been suspended for spam. First I'd heard about it. I followed the instructions for appealing this, but have heard absolutely nothing. I mention this as a footnote, but it looks like the football may have a puncture or two.
posted by Hogshead at 2:18 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
I tried to log in to Meetup in early January, only to be told my 16yo account had been suspended for spam. First I'd heard about it. I followed the instructions for appealing this, but have heard absolutely nothing. I mention this as a footnote, but it looks like the football may have a puncture or two.
posted by Hogshead at 2:18 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
Ok I will comment in support of meetup, they provide excellent support for organisers, by email and on Discord. I really hope this acquisition sticks! I’ve been an organiser since it was owned by the creators and they travelled abroad to meet their biggest organisers, it was fun.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:39 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by ellieBOA at 3:39 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I used Meetup around a decade ago to conjure a furry fandom community out of whole cloth in my city with a monthly bowling meet. The ability to post something visible to the public for free on the open web was a giant way to grow a community from an idea to something large and robust enough that I thought might not be attached to me as Dear Leader.
But alas, as my PTSD took hold and I stopped going to all the monthly events, even if I was organizing them, and then later when it got bad and I was asking others to keep the organizing going on... it all fell apart.
And then COVID.
The furry community here is a shell of what it used to be, and they're using a very selective Telegram invite-only channel and it's like... how do you build community through that?
Anyway, Meetup was an amazing part of my life for several crucial years, and I'm glad to have had it good then, and I'm sorry it might not be that way anymore.
posted by hippybear at 4:03 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
But alas, as my PTSD took hold and I stopped going to all the monthly events, even if I was organizing them, and then later when it got bad and I was asking others to keep the organizing going on... it all fell apart.
And then COVID.
The furry community here is a shell of what it used to be, and they're using a very selective Telegram invite-only channel and it's like... how do you build community through that?
Anyway, Meetup was an amazing part of my life for several crucial years, and I'm glad to have had it good then, and I'm sorry it might not be that way anymore.
posted by hippybear at 4:03 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
Pre-covid, I used to go to a coding group that organized on Meetup but it never reconvened. The only emails I get from Meetup are hectoring ones wanting me to take over as the group's organizer.
posted by quartzcity at 4:10 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by quartzcity at 4:10 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
The only emails I get from Meetup are hectoring ones wanting me to take over as the group's organizer.
Well, that's because the organizer is the one who gives Meetup the money.
That's how it works. If you want to create a group, you pay for it to be made. If you're a public person looking for a group it's free.
So Meetup is nagging for you to be organizer because that's the only paycheck they get.
posted by hippybear at 4:18 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Well, that's because the organizer is the one who gives Meetup the money.
That's how it works. If you want to create a group, you pay for it to be made. If you're a public person looking for a group it's free.
So Meetup is nagging for you to be organizer because that's the only paycheck they get.
posted by hippybear at 4:18 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Feel like the rival for meetup is maybe Facebook events, and that is something I do not want. Hope this goes okay.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:21 PM on January 11
posted by Going To Maine at 4:21 PM on January 11
(There are plenty of dead Metroid meetup groups around here that always give the site a bit of an abandoned mall vibe, but I kind of assume that’s the norm everywhere. Everyone wants to join a thing, but you don’t have time for many of them.)
posted by Going To Maine at 4:24 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by Going To Maine at 4:24 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I do wonder, if I can get healthy enough to initiate such a thing again, what would happen if I tried to manifest the same furry bowling meet using Meetup at some point in the future.
It's fun to think about.
posted by hippybear at 4:27 PM on January 11
It's fun to think about.
posted by hippybear at 4:27 PM on January 11
Maybe revive it long enough to shepherd everyone onto a Discord? I wouldn't have voted for it, but it seems that's what everyone uses for online communities around shared hobbies and interests now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:58 PM on January 11
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:58 PM on January 11
Discords aren't searchable on the open web. How does one discover a Discord?
posted by hippybear at 5:42 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 5:42 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
That part's a bit of a mystery; I think the usual answer is 'the social graph' and jazz fingers. So, from other furries via other Discords they're already in, other platforms (twitter? insta? tumblr? fetlife?) or word of mouth/group text/etc.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:53 PM on January 11
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:53 PM on January 11
I've never been a huge user of meetup although I tried once. I was living in a fairly rural area (and still am but a different area) and wanted to socialize with people other than the ones I worked with*, but had a working class schedule (i.e. decidedly not 9-5) and tried organizing a group on meetup in order to achieve this. It didn't really work and my assumption was that the low population in my area was a significant factor in this. I'm curious whether/to what extent my assumption was correct, but not curious to do work finding the answer. Main reason I am commenting is because I haven't thought about meetup in a while and am now more seriously considering the possibility that enshittification was a bigger factor than I was specifically considering at the time.
*Not necessarily anything against anyone I worked with, but I saw them often enough at work, generally speaking.
posted by Whale Oil at 6:59 PM on January 11
*Not necessarily anything against anyone I worked with, but I saw them often enough at work, generally speaking.
posted by Whale Oil at 6:59 PM on January 11
That part's a bit of a mystery; I think the usual answer is 'the social graph' and jazz fingers. So, from other furries via other Discords they're already in, other platforms (twitter? insta? tumblr? fetlife?) or word of mouth/group text/etc.
So, the thing is, when I was doing the bowling meet on Meetup, a significant number of people every single month were people who were seeking out furry community but had never found it before.
The fact that it was searchable on the web meant that it was, in some respect, like a "Furry Bar" kind of situation, a place that people who weren't associated with furries could come and find people like them and meet and find community.
What you're describing is a closed circle that has zero hope of ever bringing in these outside people.
Honestly that's the problem we're in now. I'm not running anything [not in a good place to even try] and the current group runs on a Telegram that is only run by word of mouth. I remember when I was given the link through some people on Twitter, I came into the room and there was a gigantic shockwave because NOBODY KNEW HOW I GOT THERE.
If you're running something you want to have as a community but you aren't open to having new people showing up randomly, you're not running a community, you're running a closed society at best.
posted by hippybear at 7:05 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
So, the thing is, when I was doing the bowling meet on Meetup, a significant number of people every single month were people who were seeking out furry community but had never found it before.
The fact that it was searchable on the web meant that it was, in some respect, like a "Furry Bar" kind of situation, a place that people who weren't associated with furries could come and find people like them and meet and find community.
What you're describing is a closed circle that has zero hope of ever bringing in these outside people.
Honestly that's the problem we're in now. I'm not running anything [not in a good place to even try] and the current group runs on a Telegram that is only run by word of mouth. I remember when I was given the link through some people on Twitter, I came into the room and there was a gigantic shockwave because NOBODY KNEW HOW I GOT THERE.
If you're running something you want to have as a community but you aren't open to having new people showing up randomly, you're not running a community, you're running a closed society at best.
posted by hippybear at 7:05 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
Evernote's fall had been going on for a bit longer than just the past year. But yeah, that fall has been almost Yahoo-level dramatic and I can't think of anyone even bothers with it anymore, even among the most enthusiastic adopters in my circle. I mean, maybe it's gotten better recently? I wouldn't know. I feel like this doesn't bode well for Meetup. You don't sell to the vampire capitalists unless you're already distressed or just want out of the game
posted by treepour at 7:10 PM on January 11
posted by treepour at 7:10 PM on January 11
Purchasing company is called... Bending Spoons? Then I'm sure we can expect miracles.
posted by TimidFooting at 7:19 PM on January 11
posted by TimidFooting at 7:19 PM on January 11
Evernote has gone into full enshittification recently. I don't know if this was posted here but Evernote is about to seriously limit its plan for free users [The Verge]
posted by hippybear at 7:22 PM on January 11
posted by hippybear at 7:22 PM on January 11
The fact that it was searchable on the web meant that it was, in some respect, like a "Furry Bar" kind of situation, a place that people who weren't associated with furries could come and find people like them and meet and find community
I think that before (and since) Meetup one answer has been having a website or landing page for the group, such that someone can type [activity][location] into Google and get your page. Or, since unfortunately people live so much these days on closed platforms, to think of where else people might perform that search (Facebook, the corpse of Twitter, Reddit, etc etc) and create something on those platforms for them to find.
Meanwhile, at least in the US, Craigslist still exists! Just not so much in people's consciousness - but I'm not sure that many people think a lot about Meetup these days either.
posted by trig at 3:48 AM on January 12
I think that before (and since) Meetup one answer has been having a website or landing page for the group, such that someone can type [activity][location] into Google and get your page. Or, since unfortunately people live so much these days on closed platforms, to think of where else people might perform that search (Facebook, the corpse of Twitter, Reddit, etc etc) and create something on those platforms for them to find.
Meanwhile, at least in the US, Craigslist still exists! Just not so much in people's consciousness - but I'm not sure that many people think a lot about Meetup these days either.
posted by trig at 3:48 AM on January 12
IAC just sold 17 apps to BendingSpoons [SLNitter via HN].
"- $100M deal
- All 330 employees fired
- Robokiller and PDF Hero appear to be the biggest
Sneak peak at the playbook: ultra scammy tactics, no new features, sell user data, more ads, and other lovely things."
posted by zaixfeep at 3:54 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
"- $100M deal
- All 330 employees fired
- Robokiller and PDF Hero appear to be the biggest
Sneak peak at the playbook: ultra scammy tactics, no new features, sell user data, more ads, and other lovely things."
posted by zaixfeep at 3:54 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
Investors in Bending Spoons include musician The Weekend, tennis player Andre Agassi, movie star Bradley Cooper, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and director/actor Taika Waititi: https://bendingspoons.com/people
Awesome to see those people already filthy rich find a way to make yet more money in this world by bullying the bootstraps of thousands to ruin the experience for millions.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 6:48 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
Awesome to see those people already filthy rich find a way to make yet more money in this world by bullying the bootstraps of thousands to ruin the experience for millions.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 6:48 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
Purchasing company is called... Bending Spoons? Then I'm sure we can expect miracles.
Yeah, that's what I came in here to comment on: "bending spoons" sounds like it comes from exactly the same well of toxic techbro idiocy as "red pill." You'd think these chucklefucks would at least have the self-respect to rebrand themselves, given that the creative minds behind their chosen "wake up sheeple!" media are openly trans and have mocked them continuously for their complete failure to read into any of the actual symbolism in the movie, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Mayor West at 6:56 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
Yeah, that's what I came in here to comment on: "bending spoons" sounds like it comes from exactly the same well of toxic techbro idiocy as "red pill." You'd think these chucklefucks would at least have the self-respect to rebrand themselves, given that the creative minds behind their chosen "wake up sheeple!" media are openly trans and have mocked them continuously for their complete failure to read into any of the actual symbolism in the movie, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Mayor West at 6:56 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
IAC just sold 17 apps to BendingSpoons
Aw damn, I like WeatherLive, not looking promising without any of their staff.
Meetup isn’t on that list FYI.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:15 AM on January 12
Aw damn, I like WeatherLive, not looking promising without any of their staff.
Meetup isn’t on that list FYI.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:15 AM on January 12
I want a photo filter that makes everyone look just as desperate and living on the economic edge as the rest of us. Tastefully.
posted by porpoise at 10:18 PM on January 13
posted by porpoise at 10:18 PM on January 13
Oh man, and now I've gone and looked at Meetup for my area and even though its an ancient site it's got a ton of interesting stuff going on!
Maybe that's because the site is aging along with me and all these are legally meets, but it doesn't seem that way. I saw several things that were aimed at 20-30 year olds.
posted by hippybear at 6:48 PM on January 15
Maybe that's because the site is aging along with me and all these are legally meets, but it doesn't seem that way. I saw several things that were aimed at 20-30 year olds.
posted by hippybear at 6:48 PM on January 15
Meetup in Paris has loads of 20s and 30s aimed groups! There’s an LGBTQ dating group I’ve aged out of as it’s 25-35!
posted by ellieBOA at 11:08 AM on January 16 [1 favorite]
posted by ellieBOA at 11:08 AM on January 16 [1 favorite]
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So, this? Could go either way.
posted by ursus_comiter at 1:58 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]