Informal learning can be defined as the engagement in learning activities that are not based on one’s course of study, which is delivered in reaction to given requests and desires from various people. The individuals can come from multiple sectors and organizations like housing, health, education, guidance services, training services, employment services, and social services. Activities that will facilitate informal learning in one’s environment include discussions, information, presentations, talks, guidance, and advice. Human beings continue learning throughout their lives, and 90 % of this learning is often not planned and unstructured. This kind of learning occurs naturally, facilitating a person taking in the knowledge regarding given topics or events. This paper will focus on the use of meetup.com as a form of informal learning. 

History of Meetup.com

Meetup platform started as a start-up in 2002 and was co-founded by two individuals, Matt Meeker and Scott Heiferman. As explained and cited by Heiferman, the primary reason for its start-up was the occurrence of the 11th September attacks in the city of New York. The attacks inspired the creation of Meetup to allow and make it easier for strangers to meet, come together and share. Meeting strangers physically in the course and after these attacks became a problematic issue for many, thus Meetup went to the rescue to provide a virtual space for meeting and sharing (Ricken et al., 2017). Since the creation of Meetup, the platform has grown to 28 million users who have successfully organized and created more than 260,000 Meetup groups. On the same, Meetup is being used monthly in over 179 countries, with an average number of 610,000 meetups occurring each month (Ricken et al., 2017).  The company Meetup has also been able to launch and use its app on mobile devices, an advantage to users when organizing and attending meetups while on the go. 

Theories of Informal Learning in using Meetup Platform

The start of the use of Meetup begins when one creates an account on the platform, after which he uses the website in finding meetups or groups of learning that he is interested in. Besides, one can create a new group of learning if no one has already done it. Filtering in search of meetups groups includes searching by geography, for example, one’s location, by category, date, and one’s suggestions. The algorithm learns an individual’s preferences of the platform as one continues its usage, popping up the tips. In using Meetup, one will click on a meetup that he has interests in to find more information about it like who is attending the Meetup, when the group was founded, what the attendees do, and what they are about with even a view of their gatherings in pictures (Ricken et al., 2017). 

The use of Meetup for learning will involve finding and joining a meetup that one is interested in; the platform has no restrictions in the groups that one is joining (Ricken et al., 2017). The only requirements to an individual from the forum are to confirm that he is joining and then show up when the Meetup is meeting. One can also create his Meetup in an easy process by a range of information, including where one is and the activities that one needs to engage in. Other users who will have the same interests as you will join up the group. One can also send messages to other users on the platform to determine if they have any other meetups that suit your preference. 

Contexts of informal learning at Meetup

The use of Meetup for informal learning can occur in different dimensions. For one, individuals can organize sports teams, physical activities, and exercise. The love for playing sports will compel one to manage leagues, allowing a person to do physical exercising and outdoor activities like swimming with others. Learning can also occur by one identifying and developing their hoppy (Ricken et al., 2017). Despite one’s hoppy, either reading, model building, or knitting, he will find another person at Meetup who has the same interests. The ability to meet and do what he loves most with others is a good form of entertainment of spending one’s time, leading to the creation and fostering of long-lasting friendships. Meetup also allows one to arrange for social encounters, providing one with an opportunity to get out of the house and meet new people (Ricken et al., 2017). The social meetings may not be based on interests but will allow for a new fun way of doing things with others and growing one’s social network. 

Meetup promotes informal learning in the fact that it allows one to present personal or professional work. There is a high chance that whatever one user of Meetup does or is, there is someone out there who has the same interests. Constructive feedback from other users provides an opportunity to improve and perfect skills and learn from others (Bhowmick et al., 2020). The platform allows one to meet and make friends considering age groups, allowing one to learn from his peers. The same age group will contain similar interests for an individual. In the platform, there exist specific groups that are meant only for learning (Bhowmick et al., 2020). One can join these groups to seek knowledge in a given topic, and combining different aspects of the views from your group members will allow one to develop perfection in a given field. The productivity of an individual can be improved by one joining others who perform the same tasks. Joining a group with the same interests pushes someone and helps them focus on what they are doing. 

Meetup groups in the platform allow one also to have an exploration of how different cultures operate. For example, one can link with another person to gain knowledge on given foods, traditions and customs, and various aspects of culture one can have in mind (Pakrashi et al., 2018). A person can also meet up with others who have the same elements for the exploration of culture. The platform also allows the singles to link up and share, allowing one to meet someone with the same interest (Pakrashi et al., 2018). This aspect reduces the awkwardness of dating by connecting you with someone interested in spending time with others. Like-minded discussions are also able to thrive by people sharing what they are interested in. Discussions can range from sexual orientation, religion, political issues, and others (Pakrashi et al., 2018). The groups can have a focus on current events in the world and minority groups finding others. Groups allow one to connect with people of the same interest and learn the various perspectives concerning a given issue. 

Conclusion

Using our spare time to the things we love by finding the resources and social connections to make them happen promotes informal learning. Meetup allows one to connect people with the same interests and mindset as you, fostering the learning and perfection of an individual’s skill, like basketball when one finds himself in a new location. The philosophy of Meetup states that “when we get together and do the things that matter to us, we’re at our best.” Informal learning is an aspect that cannot be separated from the life of humankind.