MeetMe began its ascent from surprisingly humble origins. In 2005, a 15- and 16-year-old pair of siblings, Catherine and David Cook, got the idea to trade in the traditional paper yearbook for a 21st-century digital version. myYearbook was born, and would go on to hire over 100 employees, raise $17 million in funding, lay claim to over 20 million members and 1.2 billion monthly page views, and earn $20 million in revenue. Not too shabby for a site founded by high schoolers.

What differentiated myYearbook from other social networking sites was that it specialized in helping users meet new people, rather than taking the Facebook approach of connecting friends who already know each other. The added perk of social flash games also gave myYearbook a popularity boost. myYearbook continued to roll out new functionality, including an instant messaging client, a real-time stream, and mobile applications, and in 2012 the site was renamed MeetMe.

With a renewed focus on helping users make new friends, instead of keeping in touch with friends from the past, MeetMe found more success than ever. In 2017 they went through a major rebrand and launched live video streams which has become their most popular feature ever (and even helps the popular MeetMe members make some money by collecting Diamonds).

MeetMe is a social discovery service that is committed to making meeting all types of people fun. Signing up is easy, filling out a profile is a speedy process, and interaction with other users is entertaining. Whereas using more traditional dating sites can sometimes feel like a chore, using MeetMe feels like an amusing diversion. And best of all, most of the features are free.

To join, new members can sign in with their Facebook accounts or register with their e-mail addresses. Only basic information is required, then new users are given the option to add a profile photo and follow other users near their location. After joining, members can add more detailed information to their profiles. Further customization is available through layouts (called themes) that can be used only if you upgrade to a MeetMe+ subscription.

MeetMe also offers features by having members pay with Credits. Credits can be earned several ways. It is available for purchase, but users can also receive Credits by performing certain actions on the site. Options to earn Credits include playing games, communicating, and finding Secret Admirers in Match. Once Credits has been accumulated, users can unlock other fun features and boosts on the site.

Of course, it's not just about the fun and games on MeetMe. There are also the more basic search functions that you would expect on an online dating or social networking site. Use the Match tool to identify people within a specified age range and/or geographic location and attempt to discover your Secret Admirers. Use Locals to find new friends in your area. Get involved in the conversation using Ask Me, a feature that allows users to send and receive anonymous questions to each other. View popular members and be entertained by their antics by watching the Live Feed. Do this all on the go, using the MeetMe iOS and Android apps.

If you’re bored of the traditional online dating experience and looking for something that ups the entertainment factor, MeetMe might be a match made in heaven.

Positives of MeetMe

These are the best parts of MeetMe.

• Free to join
• iOS, Android, and Windows apps available in addition to the website
• Chat messages can be sent to and received from all members, regardless of their subscription status
• Can view live many different video streams and start your own one on one or one to many video stream

Negatives of MeetMe

These are the parts of MeetMe which needs improvement.

• Mobile app and website contains many ads unless you upgrade your membership
• Profile information is relatively basic and doesn’t offer the opportunity to get to know people on a deeper level
• Because the profile does not contain very detailed information, search options are also somewhat limited

Editors Bottom Line

What should you take away from this review of MeetMe? Our expert explains:

"MeetMe" is a live-streaming video service which empowers men and women to forge meaningful connections with each other through video and text chatting either in groups or one on one.

We give MeetMe, a 3.75 out of 5 Stars! 😃

MeetMe Profiles & Sign Up Process

Creating an account is easy to do on MeetMe. You can either signup on the MeetMe.com website by either connecting your Facebook account or using your email address. The only way to create an account using the apps (found on Google Play and the Apple App store) is signing up using Facebook. You can however create your account first on the website using your email address and then sign in via the app without any problems.

It only takes a couple of minutes to create an account on MeetMe. As a member you only need to include basic information like your name, email address, zip or postal code, and gender. It's not required for you to add photos (from either Facebook or your phone). You can still search, chat and watch video streams. It is recommended though, and some features are disabled until you do. Profile attributes that you can fill in either on signup or later on include:

• Basic Info
  • First and Last Name (not required)
  • Location (based on your zip code) and/or the location from your phone
  • Tags
    • Add up to 5 tags. Includes things like Health Nut, Party Animal, and Easygoing
• About Me
  • Written essay about yourself and the type of person you are looking for (not required)
• Details
  • Orientation, Relationship Status, Looking for, several different Physical Attributes, Religion, Ethnicity, Has Children, Education, Smoking
  • None of these details are required

From your own profile you can also select from a number of different themes (MeetMe+ upgrade only) and also view your popularity as a line graph on the MeetMe service.

Verification

MeetMe offers users an option to verify their account and profile is for a real person. To active the process, choose the verification badge from the menu. Once you agree to the terms you will then be prompted to take a selfie at that moment. The AI software (licensed from FaceTec) then scans and confirms the authenticity of the selfie to confirm that you are a physical living presence and not a bot. This process also performs an age estimation.

Once your verification is completed successfully your profile will receive a Verified badge. Having this badge will increase your profile views and messages sent to you. For more information on this process you can read this article.

MeetMe Costs

MeetMe is free to use and communicate with members but they do offer an upgrade subscription service called MeetMe+, and also use a paid credit system. Credits are a virtual currency that you can purchase and use to buy premium items or services. Typically the premium services available for MeetMe Credits are designed to help you meet more people faster by increasing your visibility on the site, getting you out there to meet millions of new people and boosting your popularity. For members who are popular on the MeetMe Live feeds and receive virtual gifts from other members, they can convert those to either credits or actual money.

• Prices last confirmed November 2, 2018. Please check MeetMe[*1] for most recent pricing. All prices in USD unless specified otherwise. Prices may differ based on location, time of purchase, or access point (this can include device used and/or if accessed from a website or app)
• Boost
  • Your profile will be placed to the top of the Locals feed for people near you. Ideal when you want to chat
  • Lasts only a certain amount of time
  • Costs 100 Credits
• Match Spotlight
  • You will have priority in Match, substantially increasing the number of admirers you get
  • Lasts only a certain amount of time
  • Purchase via Credits
• Live Feed Spotlight
  • A spotlighted Live feed post will be at the top of the feed for everyone to see. Great for creating a discussion and getting comments
  • Lasts only a certain amount of time
  • Purchase via Credits
• Credits
  • Use credits to send gifts to other users streaming video. Users who receive gifts will receive Diamonds. Gifts range in price from 10 to 5,000 credits
  • Use credits to see who has viewed your photos
  • Purchase Credits or earn Credits for free
  • To earn Credits:
    • Earn free Credits by participating in offers, playing games and completing surveys
    • Performing certain actions on MeetMe like starting a live feed or chatting
  • Costs of Credits in US dollars:
    • 250 Credits for $4.99
    • 625 Credits for $9.99
    • 2,000 Credits for $14.99
    • 3,700 Credits for $24.99
    • 16,500 Credits for $99.99
    • The more credits you buy the more bonus credits you receive
    • A number of different Credit packages are available with costs up to $500
  • Credits can be set to automatically recharged if they get low
• MeetMe+ Upgrade
  • Subscription service with monthly fees
  • Subscription does autorenew unless disabled
  • Includes:
    • Removes Ads from app and website
    • Unlock access to all photo views
    • Get extra credits every month to send as gifts or boost yourself
    • Advanced search filters (like body type, ethnicity)
    • Profile Themes
    • Your mail will be at the top of the inbox
    • stealth browsing
  • Costs in US dollars:
    • 1 month for $10.99 per month
    • 3 months for $9.00 per month
    • 6 months for $5.83 per month
• Diamonds
  • Diamonds are gifts from users
  • Allows you to track your popularity on MeetMe
  • Leaderboards are available for viewing to see who is the most popular
  • Diamonds can be converted to Credits or Cash
  • Diamonds Cash Rewards
    • Receive reward via Paypal
    • No withdrawal fees by MeetMe
    • To receive your reward it takes up to 3 business days for review by MeetMe staff and then a further 3 to 5 business days to receive funds from PayPal
    • Diamonds cash conversion:
      • 80,000 diamonds equals $200
      • 200,000 diamonds equals $500
      • 400,000 diamonds equals $1,00
  • Diamonds Credits Rewards
    • Receive credits right away
    • Diamonds credits conversion:
      • 200 diamonds equals 100 credits
      • 500 diamonds equals 250 credits
      • 2,000 diamonds equals 1,000 credits

MeetMe Viewing & Communication Features

The MeetMe apps for iOS and Android contain the most features and is the preferred way to use the service. Using the MeetMe.com website only offers a fraction of the features listed below.

When viewing a MeetMe members profile directly or seeing a summary in lists and feeds there are a number of tools available to you. This includes adding the member to your Favorites list (giving them a Gold Star) and sending a Friend Request. Friend requests must be approved by the other member before they appear in your list (and likewise you will appear in theirs).

When viewing a profile from the Locals feed there are several actions available to you including:

• Chatting
  • From the profile view you can send a message or start a text chat
  • Video Call
    • Tap on the camera icon to start a one-on-one video call
    • Video chat requests can only be sent to users with whom you have previously exchanged text messages
    • For more info see: The Meet Group Announces Updates To MeetMe App
• Photos
  • View larger versions of the photos
  • Like photos and comment on them
• Ask Me
  • Send and receive anonymous questions to learn more about users you’re interested in
  • Answers can be shared to Facebook and Twitter

When viewing live video feeds (one to many) you can perform a number of different tasks including:

• Sending Virtual Gifts
  • Is an animated gif that the member receives along with Diamond Rewards
  • This costs credits (anywhere from 10 to 5,000)
• Live Text Chatting
  • Messages are viewed by all members watching the stream
  • Can include emojis
• Video Chat
  • Video chat with member who is doing the live video stream
  • Other members viewing the stream will see your video feed in the top corner

MeetMe also recently released a Quick feature which is an extension of the Live Feed but allows a private video stream where you and only one other person can view the feed. This Quick video stream offers similar tools mentioned above as the Live feed.

Other communication tools which are available from your profile (which you can access by pressing the "Me" icon on the bottom toolbar) include:

• Notifications
  • Receive notifications for: feed updates, favorites, friend requests, comments and status updates
• Views
  • List of members who has viewed your profile and photos
  • List of members who you have viewed
• Friends
  • Your list of friends and suggested friends
  • Shows friend requests which you can accept or decline
• Favorites (Gold Stars)
  • Your favorites and users who have favorited you
• Discuss
  • View discussions on a large variety of topics
  • Filter discussions on topics and those that are new or trending
  • Filter discussions further by gender, location, friends and age range

When viewing any profile or video feed you can report spam, report the user and block the user from communicating with you or viewing your profile. There are also constant reminders to keep your text chats and video streams clean. MeetMe has a zero tolerance policy and will remove accounts that post explicit or suggestive content.

Your own Video Stream on MeetMe

You can also start your own live video stream on MeetMe very easily. Once started anyone can join. You can invite friends to help grow your audience and popularity. If people like your steam they can send you virtual gifts and gifts of Diamonds which you can then later convert to cash. With your video stream, people can text chat with you and others just like any other video stream on MeetMe.

As a video streamer you can also participate in "Battles". This feature brings together two live streamers and their audiences for a live competition. A category for the Battle is selected (like best comedian, musician, dancer, etc...) and a time limit (usually a few minutes). The winner is the streamer who earns more diamonds by receiving gifts from the audience during the battle period. For more on this exciting feature you can read further our news article on MeetMe's Video Battles.

Searching and Matching

You can search for members on MeetMe you like either through the Locals feed or by the Live Video Streaming feed. Both Local and Live feeds are displayed in a grid format. You can also view and find matches generated by MeetMe from your profile.

The Locals feed allows you to filter members by a number of different attributes. When you click on a member you like you can then start a chat, view their profile and any photos they may have.

• Locals Feed
  • Basic Search
    • Filter by: Location, Gender, Age Range, Orientation, and if online
  • Advanced Search
    • Filter by: Tags, Relationship status, Looking For, and other parts of profile
    • Sort by different attributes like distance
    • For upgraded members only

Live Feeds are a one-to-many video feature that allows users to broadcast themselves, watch other users’ broadcasts, and chat in real time. They have less filtering options than local when you are searching for a feed. With video streams you also get to see other text chats that members send the person streaming the video.

• Live Feed
  • Trending, Nearby, New, Date, and Favorites

Under Date in Live Feeds you will find members who wish to participate in Next Date and Blind Date. These are virtual speed dating events where you have 90 seconds to go on a date with someone. It is a fun way to get to know someone by asking and answering questions. Others can watch and also comment on how the date is going and give you some additional questions to ask. Once the date is over if both of you tap Match then the date continues and the live streaming goes private where each of you can continue your conversation. Blind Date is a twist on Next Date and only shows blurred video to the daters, which as the date progresses, slowly clears so by the end you can see fully who you are talking with.

The only automated matching MeetMe does is via the Match option found under the "Me" icon. From here you can view a list of matches one by one and let MeetMe know if you admire them or not.

• Match
  • Scroll through photos and answer yes or no to “Do you want to secretly admire him/her?”
  • View your Secret Admirers list
  • View your Matches which happens when both of you admire each other
  • Refine matches by: gender, age range, location, relationship status

Other MeetMe Information

• Your MeetMe.com member account will also work with the mobile apps – no need to sign up separately
• MeetMe last major rebrand happened in 2017 when they introduced Live Video. For more information see: MeetMe Launches Live Video Beta And A Rebrand
• MeetMe has been featured in TechCrunch, Forbes, The Huffington Post, the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, CNET, and more
• Plenty of Fish streamers are included in the list of streamers on MeetMe as the POF app uses the same Livestream technology from the Meet Group (see Story)

Additional information on this dating service can be found in our topic for MeetMe news articles.

Disclaimer: While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of our information at DatingSitesReviews.com we shall not be held responsible for any discrepancy. There is a possibility that the information provided here is outdated or wrong, please check with the service directly for the most recent information. As always you should read your terms of service before purchasing a product and/or signing up to any online service. DatingSitesReviews.com may receive a portion of revenue if you click a link in this page and buy a product or service. Editorial opinions expressed in our official reviews are our own and are not provided or approved by advertisers.