Not too long ago, friending someone involved more than just clicking a button on Facebook.
So in a retro twist to social networking, a wave of Web start-ups are encouraging users to get off their couches, away from their smartphones and tablets, and back into the real world.
"We have an internal tagline: Use the Internet to get off the Internet," said Kathryn Fink, community manager at Meetup, an online-to-offline start-up with 11 million members.
Hybrid social networks are connecting strangers with similar interests online, then directing them to meet in person for dinners, bar-hopping, bowling or biking excursions. Unlike dating or networking sites, these start-ups are focused simply on helping users make new friends and hang out face to face. If a hookup or job interview results — well, that's just an added bonus.
On the sites, users create a free profile of themselves with basic information and a photo, and search for get-togethers that interest them. Before meeting face to face, people can post questions, offer parking or traffic tips and suggest topics to talk about. Events that cost money are usually paid for in advance online.
The sites are doing especially well among twenty- and thirty somethings in big cities, where finding new people to hang out with can be challenging.
"When you're in college, friends are basically thrown at you," said Greg Self, 22, an assistant at a film production company. "It's super easy."
But that wasn't the case after Self moved to L.A. from Virginia earlier this year. He searched online for ways to meet new people and came across Grubwithus, a Venice start-up that enables users to create and attend group meals.
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