HOP articles, stories and insights

Wonder.me - connect better

“Wonder.me” is a proximity-based platform, very simple to use, where users can roam freely in a space and then meet and engage in conversations. The platforms invites the creation of “bubbles”, where people who are close to one another can engage, chat and interact, but can move away as soon as they want.

In online learning spaces I have had people from all over the world, from the different continents, irrespective of diversity. It is time-bound and time zones can be a problem, but more people get to join a session or maybe just a part of it – says Antonela Kotsoni, who works in IntermediaKT in Patras, Greece. For example people who cannot leave their job or have a family with small children and would not be able to participate in a mobility learning, can still devote two hours of their life and meet you.

Especially in hard times like during a lockdown, online spaces kept so many people going. I realized it gives you strength - Antonela says. It still provides the sense of community and the support that you get, the same sense as in presential learning, but also you can take more space for yourself, and allows more space for reflection. I like those advantages.

Antonela would recommend Wonder.me for networking events, team-bonding events, or even a party, but she wouldn’t use it for a strictly educational webinar or event. As a creator, you can organise the space with different topics (areas): the visual interface can be customized, you choose a background picture - a bar, a library, a beach or a galaxy far far away - but you cannot create separate rooms within the room. You can design “bubbles” - designated areas within the main window that can get a title, and this helps people to gather around a common interest or topic.

The pricing: in 2022 it can be used for free, it can host up to 50 people - but with these platforms, things change all the time. In the future it can receive a price update. The motto says “no more video call fatigue”.It’s the context that makes a difference - explains Antonela. People get into a different mood, you use it for different ideas like networking, team-bonding, for the fun part. You can move, and this sensation you can feel it somehow in your body also. You can choose where you are, so it gives you the liberty to be in the place you want to be, with the people you want to meet.

The feedback Antonela gets from users is that while using it, they keep their cameras on more often than with other tools. The flexibility means people leave a session more energized. Meetings are more natural and casual.

What is it NOT suitable for? Antonela would still use it for learning experiences, but carefully. It can be useful for small group work for example, but there are limitations - you can only have up to 9 people in the same bubble for example. Once during an online event there was only one person left out, who couldn’t join any group because everybody else was already organized in groups of 9. So there was one participant all alone, and I decided to join him, so we created a bubble of our own. In the end I really got to know this person a lot more – Antonela shares. This can maybe create social anxiety, even in an online event. It’s not possible to “knock at the door” and ask people to make space for an extra guest. The platform has a limit. Anyway, it seems that 9 or 10 is the threshold beyond which online meetings tend to become more tiring and boring.

To use Wonder.me is really super easy, you create an account, set up a space, in 10/15 minutes you are ready to go and can share the link with everybody else. The site has a fun vibe, minimalistic and high-energy. But be careful that there are technical limitations, people can get lost and may need a bit of hand-holding, so a digital facilitator should be on the lookout to see people who are confused, and welcome them back into some meaningful interaction.