I agree that I don’t see the formation of a group specifically out of the #lancups. As Jeff says above, eventually the “circle” will begin sloughing off sub-circles of Twilight fans, coffeeholics or whatever. I think that’s inevitable. I would disagree that there’s total informality to the tweetup concept – more like it’s just beneath the surface, mission and all. Perhaps it’s like Seinfeld – a show they did about nothing. I bet you and I could codify our mission for the effort without much trouble. The looseness of it is what endears it to us, I think.

I tend to compare the power of online social media to the small town experience, which largely was de-emphasized in the last half century. The major distinctive of modern networking is the removal of geographic boundaries, which is significant from a sociological standpoint. Instead of physically moving oneself, you can connect (as literally as you can manage) with others who are like-minded and share common interests, etc. You can move in and out of circles as your own perspectives change. You can regulate your participation without reprisal. Even more interesting, you can connect with others who are not like-minded and find common ground. This last piece I feel is an important one for our society as a whole, because at the end of the day everyone has to live with each other, and social media networking holds a key to making that a reality in today’s seemingly (if you are a slave to the media) fractured political landscape. As Daniel points out, there are potential economic benefits as well from the formation of new coalitions of businesspeople working to benefit each other and the customer. Capitalism anyone? Social Media networking could be the tool to ultimately merge the small town experience with the global economy. Sounds like where the internet has been destined to go all along.

Something to talk about tomorrow?

I think we’re still learning how to think differently about this issue. It could be that social media just give us one more way for groups and organizations to be born, and then from there they grow and evolve in the same ways all other groups do. Or it could be something very different.

For instance, is it necessary for there to be a “group” at all? That’s an assumption that’s at least worth challenging. At a bar at any given time there are “regulars” sitting at the bar alongside other customers, and perhaps they’re all engaged in conversation. We don’t think of that as any sort of structured group. It’s the same with tweetups–we have regulars, but not (at least I don’t think) a real “group” that exists beyond that event.

It seems to me that you can have a bunch of different people throwing a bunch of different events, with a large pool of people attending those events. Then the focus becomes the event (with characteristics of time, place, and activity) rather than the group itself.

Yesterday, some local people who use Twitter got together to watch “Twilight,” for instance. I have no interest, so I didn’t even ask to join. Couldn’t that sort of thing happen again and again, over and over, with the pool of participants dividing, merging back together, and then dividing in different ways over and over again? Couldn’t that go on forever without the need for any sort of formal group, club, or organization, no matter how big the pool of participants got? Can’t open invites go out from individuals again and again, “I’m doing [this thing] at [this time] at [this time]. It would cost $x [or nothing]. Join if you want to [or, I need to know ahead of time so I can prepare accordingly].”

I’m thinking out loud here (in type). I think organizations are good and useful and necessary in many circumstances, but in many circumstances today are they necessary? Are they more trouble than they’re worth? Can’t we get by a lot easier without such structure many times, especially with the tools of social media at our disposal?

As any group grows it needs new resources which usually translates to needing either time or money. The downside to the rise of social media is that it is so hard to monetize (outside of selling ads), and I think the social media space is getting more and more competitive as we are all less inclined to follow just any group on facebook or any user on twitter. As users get more and more social network spam, they build up greater defenses to them, and will wall themselves off from new organizations (formal or informal).

As with the fall of newspapers, the solution has yet to present itself, the important thing is to start trying different solutions, analyze them, discuss them, and fearlessly adapt them.

Great post and sorry if this comment got a little out of hand.