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Over the past few years on HN I've periodically seen a nice exchange between people saying "if anyone is in Austin and wants to get a beer, let me know." There'
by sndean 5y ago
Over the past few years on HN I've periodically seen a nice exchange between people saying "if anyone is in Austin and wants to get a beer, let me know." There's normally a response or two. I wonder how many of these people actually meet up?
And is HN good (or not) for this purpose? Seems like readers/commenters here could easily have a lot in common, so why couldn't HN be used as a platform for 'speed friending.' But of course I'd probably never meet up with HN-ers in the DC area... because I like to tell myself that I'm busy.
- Sevii 5y agoThe problem with using HN for this is that it doesn't provide any vetting. You don't know if you share enough beliefs to even begin to become friends. You don't necessarily have a shared experience to relate over.
- RealityVoid 5y agoIMO, this is fine. You meet up, and even if interests don't collide, at least you discovered someone different than you. I might be lucky and have an easy time making friends, but usually I can easily get along even with people I have little in common.
- brailsafe 5y agoThe only thing necessary to friendship is maybe one thing in common, and chemistry. None of my friends were met through any kind of vetting process, and I'd never want to do that.
- tdeck 5y agoYou'd think this would be important, but when I think back on my friends I met most of them randomly while happening to do something together (work, school, some other obligation) that didn't necessarily say much about our shared beliefs. I think sometimes people just need a reason to get to know each other better.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- anotherevan 5y agoI wouldn't have thought HN would be particularly good for this purpose. That said though, we just came out of a 77 day lock-down today, so if there's anybody in south-east Melbourne...
- dang 5y agoI've often thought about having a 'meet' tab in the top bar, alongside 'ask' and 'show' and 'jobs', where people could post meetups. HN has connected a lot of people over the years, both with each other and with significant opportunities. It would be nice to foster more real-world connections. Edit: not a new idea - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1310849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1310849
- ValentineC 5y agoSounds good, or we could also try having an automatic thread on the 1st/14th(?) of the month, like the hiring ones.
- dang 5y agoYes, that would be a more organic way to start.
- codetrotter 5y agoPlease do, and name the threads “Meet HN: December 2021” etc
- thedailymail 5y agoI attended a Hacker News-adjacent meetup event at a pizza place in Osaka a few years ago. I'm not a "hacker" but it was a nice way to meet smart/lonely/bored people in a region where they are isolated enough to make meetup events really meaningful. I hope this kind of thing sees a resurgence post-COVID.
- dang 5y agoThere was a HN group in Japan that met for years, but I forget where exactly they were. There was another in San Diego that met for years (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1308886 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1308886 - note the response from pg!) Scott and I used to talk about randomly showing up one day.
- 5y ago
- mettamage 5y agoI sometimes reach out and people sometimes reach out to me. There seems to be something missing. In one case, it’s lack of time. In another, it’s that I don’t always check my ProtonMail account. There’s a bit of a lack of commitment thingy going on from both sides. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just my observations. The conversations are usually fun!
- ve55 5y agoJust responding to say that I'm down to meet up with anyone in Austin, check out my profile/website to see if you may be interested!
- youeseh 5y agoThere were definitely a bunch of HN gatherings in the early days with great turnouts.
- karpierz 5y agoDown to meet up in Boston if anyone wants to grab coffee.