Joining the community? Is that what people want to do? If the goal is to meet people who you'll really connect to and make friends with, not just on a superficial level, that seems a little inefficient. Why not make a post in the thread about some common interests and make friends that way? Of course meetups can still be fun to join and mess around in, but you might be spending a lot of time before you find people you connect well with. Although both options ultimately depend on luck.