WeWork has made its name — and collected billions of dollars from investors — by providing places for people to work. Now, it is buying a social network meant to bring people together in their off time.

WeWork announced on Tuesday that it had bought Meetup, whose 35 million members use the service to find fellow aficionados of some common interest: drone racing, say, or learning Dutch.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The transaction is the latest effort by WeWork to move beyond its origins as a provider of working spaces for freelancers and consultants to become a phenomenon that, its founders say, can reshape modern life. It is a vision that has attracted a slew of investors, most notably SoftBank, which led a $4.4 billion investment that valued the company at about $17 billion. And it is a pitch whose success has helped the company buy Lord & Taylor’s flagship building as its new global headquarters.

Whether WeWork can fulfill its bold promises remains to be seen, and skeptics say that the company at its core is a richly valued real estate concern.