Social Networking Goes Offline

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It's also a bit overwhelming to search for new friends on such giant networks—the No. 2 reason, behind connecting with existing friends, why people join these sites in the first place. There are 183 million registered users of MySpace, and a search for members living within five miles of my home returned nearly 300 results. "MySpace's biggest problem is its popularity," says Emily Riley, an analyst at consultancy JupiterResearch. "There's an opportunity for smaller, targeted sites." Sensing that opportunity, MingleNow lets users register and log in using their MySpace and Facebook log-ins. Eventful.com allows users to embed its widget into other sites like MySpace to promote listings for events such as concerts and political gatherings.

Smaller social networks are starting to experiment with offline event planning as well. Eons.com, a social network for baby boomers, invited members to a spaghetti dinner and a lecture in Boston earlier this year. The quick flood of RSVP's took up all 100 available spots within hours, so Eons.com is planning four offline events for the fall, says Jeff Taylor, the site's founder and chief executive officer, and former head honcho at job search site Monster.com. "People can be a little skeptical about [an online network's] value proposition," Taylor explains. "Face-to-face meetings are very reassuring. People are feeling they are really getting to know each other."

With event planning spread across the Web, legendary venture capitalist Esther Dyson has already invested in two such companies: Eventful.com, offering listings of 4 million events worldwide, and MeetUp.com, in whose headquarters she's now established her office. "I am a big believer in face-to-face," says Dyson, an early backer of hot Web properties such as the photo-sharing site Flickr.com, now part of Yahoo! (YHOO). "People still have hunger for other people. We are still chemical and not electronic."

Making Meetings Pay

In a jab at MySpace, Dyson adds, "There's a fundamental difference between virtual spaces where people go to see ads and [Web sites] where people go to meet each other." In fact, the big social networks may yet end up acquiring event sites to beef up their offerings, says Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester.

The tricky part, as always, is making money from these services. Online advertising seems to work for some: MingleNow.com, making ends meet through sponsorships and ads from the likes of Virgin Mobile USA, is already profitable and on track to book more than $1 million in revenue in its first year, says CEO Gurbaksh Chahal. MeetUp.com is trying a different business model: It charges event organizers, such as community groups, to post events. The outfit, which facilitated more than 51,000 events in May alone, says its revenue is growing 10% a month.

And then there's MeetIn.org, which scrapes by on some $8,000 a year in unsolicited donations from members. Mike Heard, who started MeetIn with a $500 Dell (DELL) computer, still manages to run and code the site while working a full-time job as a computer programmer in Washington, D.C. "It's my way of giving back," he says. "You kind of turn a big city into a small town."

Kharif is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore.