Social networking to meet real people

The BBC has an interesting story about French social networking site, Peuplade.
The site allows users in a defined geographic area, such as a city neighbourhood, to sign-up and network online with other users who live near them.
According to the article the site actively encourages people to meet other users in the real world – people they live close to but would not otherwise have come into contact with.
The site strikes me as an interesting example of how social media can help create real-life networks that would not have otherwise formed.
There are, of course, plenty of other social networking sites that could do this, but Peuplade strikes me as different as it’s targeted deliberately at people living in a specific area with the purpose of forming offline contacts.
Paris Link also has some information about Peuplade for non-French speakers.










Simon – this could be an interesting approach for the CIPR. Wouldn’t it be great if you could enter a virtual world where you could identify fellow members and meet online or offline. They might work or live close to you – or be in your vicinity for meetings etc. Might help also with the challenges faced by the regional groups in areas such as my own (Wessex) where people live and work away from large cities.
That’s a great idea Heather – I wonder how we could progress that. I’ll have a think!
[...] bbc.co.uk: Parisian neighbours meet online (via Simon Wakeman). Peuplade is a social networking site that helps Parisians meet residents of different backgrounds in the offline world. Originally created for the 17th arrondissement of Paris, it’s now spreading to the entire city. What’s interesting about this concept is the recognition that online and offline is not mutually exclusive, and that one can help facilitate the other. It seems that too often we get stuck in an online vs. offline debate when the discussion should be about something entirely different, namely the derived value. Social Media Now is written by Andrea Weckerle, New Millennium PR. [...]
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I'm Head of Marketing at Medway Council in south east England, as well as a communications consultant.
I've had my own website here since 2001 and since early 2006 I've been writing a blog about communications, marketing and public relations with a focus on the public sector.
I'm married with two young children and live in Whitstable, Kent. Outside work I enjoy running, cycling, caravanning and generally being outdoors.
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