Bitcoin & book clubs: how IRL communities changed in 2017
The rise of Bitcoin, #MeToo, and book clubs on Meetup
by Sarah Wilson and Christine Chung
Whether you liked it or not, 2017 was a year of monumental change. We saw Trump’s first year in office, the meteoric rise of cryptocurrencies, and the birth of the #MeToo movement. We also saw in-real-life (IRL) Meetup communities changing and growing in response, leading and reflecting the changes in the broader zeitgeist. So we decided to take a look at our data to figure out how communities changed, and how they stayed the same in 2017.
Searching for events is often a member’s first point of entry on Meetup and provides our most direct signal of what people are interested in. This seemed like an obvious place to start when surveying trends over the past year. To simplify the initial analysis, we focused on the U.S. to avoid translation issues and control for seasonal and cultural variation. We then tokenized all of our search queries and found daily trending topics by z-scoring unigrams based on the average number of searches over the previous three months. This surfaced both seasonal and emerging trends. To understand whether the trends we observed in search traffic translated to action in real life, we examined our RSVP and event data, the creation of new groups, and members joining groups. These are the highlights.
#Resist, #MeToo, and the Women’s March
Meetup has a long history of serving as an organizing platform for political parties and movements, and 2017 proved no different. There was a surge in group creation and joins in the Movements category in January 2017. Leading up to the historic Women’s March, we saw a spike in searches related to “women” and “feminism.” A rise in RSVPs to events with those words in the title continued throughout 2017, increasing 18% over the previous year. With the second Women’s March in January 2018, we saw the spikes in search and RSVP data repeat, evidence of the continuing strength of the movement.
In response to Trump’s immigration ban in February, we launched our own campaign: Meetup to #Resist. We created more than 1,000 free #Resist Meetup groups which saw more than 145k joins in the first month. Those groups went on to organize a whopping 15,000+ Meetups last year. The project has since been taken over by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which is led by Ai-jen Poo, a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant.
The year ended with another surge in activism, this time spawned by #MeToo and #TimesUp. October witnessed the first Meetup events using those hashtags, right after they went viral. The movement is still gaining momentum — there were more RSVPs to #MeToo and #TimesUp events in January 2018 than there were in November and December combined. We’ll continue to watch the rise of this movement and see what else emerges in 2018.
Going to the moon
It was nearly impossible to miss the tumultuous and explosive rise of cryptocurrencies in 2017. As it turns out, Meetup has been a core component of the grassroots movement for years, helping cultivate communities for crypto enthusiasts new and old.
When we looked at trending search topics over the past year, cryptocurrency-related terms immediately stood out. Searches for “bitcoin,” “ethereum,” “blockchain,” and “cryptocurrency” started trending upward in May. We then saw searches skyrocket around Thanksgiving. The surge lasted through the New Year, mirroring Bitcoin’s price surge from ~$6,000 per coin in November to nearly $20,000 by Christmas.
We found that people were not only searching for these Meetups, but creating, joining, and RSVPing to them in droves. Meetup groups with “bitcoin” in the name, like Silicon Valley Bitcoin, added more than 83,000 members in 2017 in the U.S. alone. NYC Ethereum added between 400 and 600 members every month between May and September. Only time will tell if this is just the beginning or if the hype will die out.
To everything there is a season
In these turbulent times, it’s perhaps reassuring to know that many Meetup communities stayed the same. For example, weather-dependent Meetups maintained their seasonal trends. Some obvious culprits are kayaking, skiing, and surfing. Interest in soccer, on the other hand, is stable throughout the year.
New Year’s resolutions also play into a seasonal cycle, with spikes in January for events containing the word “resolution” in the title. We also see people resolving to “get fit” with an increase in search terms related to Sports & Fitness; sadly, we don’t see a corresponding surge in hosted events and RSVPs until the spring. On the other hand, those who resolved to “learn to dance” or “learn a new language” seemed more willing to start and join groups to help them achieve those goals.
“Read more” seems to be an especially popular resolution this year. Both group joins and group starts in the Book Club category show a resolution-like resurgence each January. However, the RSVPs to book clubs in 2017 grew 9% over 2016 and is continuing to show increasing popularity in both search and RSVP data for January 2018.
As an organizer, it would be wise to be aware of and take advantage of these trends. For example, if you organize a dancing, language, or fitness Meetup, make sure you have beginner friendly events scheduled in January to capture all the new resolution makers.
The takeaway
Whether you want to process the #MeToo movement with others or debate proof of stake vs. proof of work with fellow crypto enthusiasts, Meetup is a great platform to organize and participate in burgeoning movements. And if you’re just looking for a group of folks to read books or play pickup soccer with, Meetup has that, too. If, instead, you can’t find the exact Meetup you’re hoping for, chances are other people are looking for the same thing; take that opportunity to start your ideal Meetup. Whatever your role, thanks to all of our members and organizers for making Meetup the place where people come to connect!
Our team is bold, supportive, and passionate about bringing people together in real life to create community for everyone. We care about moving fast, real-world change, and building diverse, dynamic teams. You in?
