Fred Wilson: "It’s amazing how you can get to know someone without ever meeting face to face."

I don't buy it, unless you're as smart & devoted to your social media life as my friend Mr. Wilson. Yes, you'll increasingly be able to get to know someone via the internets, but it'll forever be amazing how much better you can know someone face to face.

At Meetup, online is a means to offline -- and offline is a means to powerful groups (Meetups). Our bet, from a community organization standpoint (different than what Fred writes about), is that unless they're having regular face-to-face meetings, there's probably not enough real relationship for the group to be powerful. From supportgroups to citizengroups to interestgroups to advocacygroups: It's about welcoming, self-organized groups that are durable, regularly meeting, and will be there when you need them -- everywhere about most everything.