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A new concept is stirring at Meredith Corp.

In December, the Des Moines publishing company plans to soft-launch MixingBowl.com, a social networking site centered on food. Though Meredith has created several networking sites recently, including BetterRecipes.com, this one is different in that it won’t be attached to one of its existing brands, such as Better Homes and Gardens, and will be more interactive.

“It’s not about one entity talking to the many, but the many talking to the many,” said Doug Crichton, director of the site. “So we become the gathering point.”

Unlike other Meredith-branded sites that provide information to an audience, this site is based on users offering their own information and interacting with other users, with Meredith participating in that community. “We’re giving users a space to come together and do what they want to do,” he said.

Better Homes and Gardens has developed a collection of networks in key categories recently, including quilting, remodeling, gardening and scrapbooking, which have proved successful. BetterRecipes.com has nearly doubled its traffic since January 2007; as of October 2008 it had more than 630,000 unique monthly visitors.

However, MixingBowl will allow for more than just recipe sharing, Crichton said. “This has recipes, too,” he said, “but it leads off with the social aspect.”

Similar to Facebook.com, people will be able to create their own profiles, build a network of friends and join groups. But Meredith also has pushed New York-based Ripple6 Inc., an outside technology company that is building the platform, to add more customized features. Users, for example, will be able to input their likes and dislikes, and the site will deliver information based on those preferences.

“So if you can’t stand cilantro,” Crichton said, “then you never get presented with anything in the way of a recipe, group, comments, postings.”

The site’s tagline – “Share Recipes. Make Friends. Win Prizes.” – describes most of what the site offers. Users will be able to share recipes within a specific group or with the entire community, as well as search recipes by last posted, most recommended, highest rated and most shared. Anyone can create or join a group, and group membership can be by invitation only, such as if a family wanted a gathering place to plan the menu for a reunion, share recipes and upload photos.

“It gets so powerful even that you have the ability to say, ‘people in my group can forward this recipe to one other person, but then it locks down,'” Crichton said.

A “Knowledge Bowl” area will have a “Question of the Day” and allow people to post answers to the question or post their own questions for users to respond to. The site also will have many giveaways and discounts, and will allow users to blog.

Meredith is talking with celebrity chefs about getting involved through blogging and groups. In addition, if someone receives a certain number of high rankings for recipes or raves as a chef, that person will be designated a “master mixer.”

Though Meredith won’t have a strong brand presence, it will participate most likely by creating groups for its core magazines, such as Ladies’ Home Journal, Fitness and Better Homes and Gardens.

Crichton also points out that Meredith will benefit from advertisement. Advertisers will be able to reach audiences already interested in their products. Possibilities include tracking how many recipes mention a specific product, forming focus groups and giving away coupons and other prizes. Advertisers also will have access to the site’s analytics, which can tell them what are the “power” users’ patterns: what makes them leaders in the community, where are they from and even what kind of computer they use.

“You’ll notice (users) are not smacked in the face with massive amounts of advertising,” Crichton said. “The intent here is for the advertisers to be integrated where it makes sense. … This is not about brands. It really is much more about the users and then lets the sponsors participate.”

MixingBowl.com has been in development since March and is led by Crichton, who also is editor-in-chief of BHG.com, Heather Morgan Shott, BHG.com senior food editor, and Diane Starkey, BHG.com art director. Once launched, the site will have a dedicated staff member who will monitor it.

“This will be an ongoing evolution depending on how users react to what they love, to what they don’t want, what more they want and what would be more helpful to them,” Crichton said.

Depending on how well it takes off, MixingBowl.com could lead Meredith to launch other social sites in categories such as gardening and crafting, which both have loyal followings.

“This company, like any other, needs to continue pushing the envelope in serving readers and users how they want to be served,” Crichton said. “And so it’s going to be just a question of keeping the company current and serving our readers and users better.”