Online social clubs prove popular

Article excerpt reprinted from the Gainesville Sun

By MEGAN ROLLAND
Sun staff writer

Published: Monday, May 26, 2008

There's Linkedin.com for professional networking, Meetup.com for friendships, UrbanChat.com for high school kids and Match.com for the romantically inclined.

As the technology era explodes, friendship and relationship networks have increasingly turned to online forums, eliminating the days of phone tag and friend-of-a-friend in-person introductions.

Nowhere is this phenomena seen more than among high school and college students who use social networks like Facebook.com and Myspace.com somewhat compulsively.

A recent book co-authored by a University of Florida assistant vice president for student affairs takes an in-depth look at the "Net Generation," those born since 1982, and how online interaction and friendship affects their values and communication.

However, the middle-aged in Gainesville are stepping into the cyber world, as well, something evidenced by perusing online social clubs.

"People are waiting longer to get married, or they find themselves single at a later age because of divorce," said University of Florida sociologist Tanya Koropeckyj-Cox.

"These are people who maybe don't have the time or energy to be going to bars or the kind of things that young people do to meet people," Koropeckyj-Cox said. "(The online social networks) become a more efficient way to meet people with like interests so you're not wasting your time."

The Adventure Club of Gainesville is perhaps the most widely used local social network. For $15 a month members have access to a Web site where other members post outdoor or activity-based events and social gatherings.

"The events change every six hours," said Jere Steele, president and owner of the club. "There's no way without the Internet that it could exist."

Steele said there are currently 100 members in the club with an average age of 43. While 75 percent of the members are single, Steele emphasized it is not a "singles club."

Koropeckyj-Cox said that there has been a boom in online social networks and subsequently many studies by sociologists.

"Societies have always found ways to match people up, and we have always used our networks to do that," Koropeckyj-Cox said. "Technology uses the same networks, it just expands it."

"We tend not to date perfect strangers. We go through a friend of a friend. Technology widens the pool. It also does simplify some of the screening process," she said.

Steele said he screens members of the group by simply not renewing the memberships of those who act inappropriately.

"We've had a couple people come into the group that I've had to talk to because they were too aggressive or assertive," Steele said. "Or there's a drama king or queen right in the middle of something stirring things up. We ask them to leave politely, or I can just not renew their membership."

Steele said that bad situations are the anomaly in his group however, which he said gets along beautifully.

The club focuses on events like kayaking, hiking, biking or ski trips, Steele said. However, social dinners are regularly organized and hosted through the Web site.

Megan Rolland can be reached at 338-3104 or megan.rolland@gvillesun.com.