13
2007
Web 2.0 and the New Tribalism
After reading my latest post regarding the Survey on Social Networks Worldwide, Stowe Boyd wrote a very interesting post about Social Networks And The New Tribalism.
Boyd writes:
“I think a new tribalism is starting to emerge through social connection on the web. A bottom-up, emergent sense of allegiance through web-enabled communities is supplanting twentieth century, industrial era alienation. While tribalism has its dark side — a tendency toward inter-tribal conflict and aggression — the wiring of the human mind and new social technologies are combining to engender neo-tribalism….
My primary relationship with the world is through my social network, and I don’t mean Facebook: I mean the specific collection of a few hundred people that I connect with through a smorgasbord of tools and services. And this is more important to me than other allegiance. More important than religion (not that I have one, really, aside from a diffused sort of Taoism), locality (I am a nomad, after all, like many tribal peoples), and definitely more than nationality (I haven’t felt very American for some time).
The difference with the new tribalism is that it is borderless, and isn’t organized as an exclusionary system. Some may reject new tribalism as being in conflict with their other allegiances. Hard bitten business types who feel that the purpose of work is to crush competitors and win at all costs will find the inherent altruism and shared social capital of web tribalism incompatible with their world view. Religions that are based on hatred of non-believers or those that have different beliefs will find web tribalism a growing threat to their exclusionary practices. Centralized national governments will fan the fires of industrial-era patriotism, but will find less adherents that are willing to bond with the notion of national interests trumping global and personal concerns.”
In his post, Boyd digs deep into the meaning of social networks and the human need to connect with others on a level that is beyond religion, geography, or nationality. I also wrote a similar post two months ago entitled Why We Should Care About Web 2.0 in which I emphasized the fact that social networks now represent our new tribal communities:
“Throughout time humans have always liked to interact and share with one another. Web 2.0 is only a digital extension of that desire. Web 2.0 communities are for us today what tribal or village communities used to be for our ancestors. They represent a place where we can make new connections, share details of our lives with them, and discuss topics that matter to us.”
Like Boyd, I also believe that social networks represent our new form of allegiance. We are entering an era of virtual, borderless connections where geography, nationality, or religion are no longer the primary dividers. Connections are now based on deeper personal elements such as: Traits, habits, views, and hobbies. Due to differences in these elements, just like in the past, not all tribes will get along. Each one of us will choose the tribe(s) where he feels most “at home”, with the people that he relates to the most, and pledge allegiance to that community. There will be some people who, as Boyd writes, will view this new tribalism as being in conflict with their other allegiances. These persons have always existed throughout time and have always tried to keep the “masses from rebellion”. For the rest of us, let’s enjoy all the privileges and advantages that this new tribalism brings us by allowing us to forge strong communities based on our own personalities (or inner selves) and not based on what country or religion we were born into.
Only a few hours after Boyd published his post, Jeff Jarvis posted on The emergence of media tribes, which is somewhat related to the topic at hand. Jarvis writes about the latest Pew Research Center study on Americans’ views of their news media showing falling trust, growing divides, and the emergence of media tribes.
Jarvis writes:
“Pew was most struck by the growing difference in opinions about media among people who use different media. Bottom line: People who use the internet as their primary source for news — who are also younger and better educated than the rest of the country — are the most critical of mainstream media (and probably the most likely to sneer at it as “MSM”). TV viewers are older and also less critical.
I see the emergence of media tribes.
Different groups use different media and have different views of that media. Perhaps that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is, the internet is used to criticize MSM and it attracts people who are critical of MSM and thus it is more critical of MSM. Or not. It could be that younger, better-educated people are already inclined to be critical of MSM and that is why they gravitate to a medium that gives them more choice, comparison, and control. Chicken, meet egg.
This is an inevitable outcome of the end of monolithic media: the death of The Press. Now that we have the means of comparison, we compare — and the old controllers do not compare well. I have long decried the allegedly grand shared experience of media that really lasted only three decades — from the 50s, when network TV killed second and third newspapers locally, to the 80s, when the cable box, VCR, and remote control gave us more choice, to the mid 90s when the internet gave us more control. I say it is a good thing to have more voices, more perspectives, more means to compare.
But I’ll also note that this division of the media tribes means that we are each seeing different Americas. That will have ever greater implications for not only news media but also for politics and public policy as well as any consumer business. Of course, this means you can’t just buy network TV to sell soap or ideas anymore. But it also means you’re never talking to one nation.”
So there you have it. Tribes are emerging around us everywhere. Each of us is trying to find his own domain (lliterally) where he can best connect with others who share his views, tastes, and habits, pledge allegiance to that community, get the news that he chooses, share his perspective, and have a say in controlling all of these elements. Web 2.0 symbolizes our freedom of choice in controlling all of these factors and we should cherish this freedom and embrace it.
Which tribe(s) do you belong to?
Thanks to Frans Devriese for the photo.
a, stowe boyd, community, connections, web, technology, allegiance, virtual, jeff jarvis, media, news, internet, freedom of choice
About the Author: Ayelet Noff
Ayelet Noff has over twelve years of experience marketing companies from various industries. She has been involved in the social media world before the term social media even existed. Ayelet opened Blonde 2.0 back in 2006. Before this, she was ICQ’s Marketing Manager for four years and also held various executive marketing positions in different startups. She is also a top blogger and currently writes for three different blogs: The Blonde 2.0 blog, The Next Web, and Socialmedia.biz. She holds an MBA degree from Tel Aviv University, and a BA in Politics from Brandeis University.
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Excellent & thought provoking. I’m actually sitting here thinking instead of going to the next thing on my to do list
I’ve always been perhaps not a nomad, but one who likes to network within and across groups. It’s allowed me to experience the most and be stimulated by many thinkers, doers and a wide range of ideas.
How will this evolve as facebookers, twitterers, podcampers, grasshoppers, SOBs, Second Lifers, LinkedIn network and other groups of friends and colleagues roll down the road of emerging media? All I know is that it bears being aware of; and thanks to you for putting it on my radar.
Hi Susan:
I am glad you enjoyed the post.
I also like to network across different social platforms and I believe that there are many others like us. This is exactly the reason why social networks are gaining so much popularity.
It would be interesting to see what the future brings and how powerful these new virtual communities become.
[...] Blonde 2.0 » Blog Archive » Web 2.0 and the New Tribalism (tags: @inbox reading community tribes) [...]
What has made me the creative innovator that I am is not my adhesion to the loving hippie tribal culture I grew up around, but rather it is my disassociation with the hypocritical values of the “Woodstock” generation that is my source of inspiration. It allows me to take in the knowledge of the elite and develop it into something more evolved. Great moments of technological innovation rarely come from comfortable communities. Industrial Revolution, Renaissance Italy, Golden Age of Athens, and the development of Hebrew monotheism were all full of strife. The kind of techno idealism you are writing about might sell an article to “Wired” magazine, but it will never change the world. The people who change the world have no ideals. The are scamps… that no one wants to admit they like. The idealistic hippies are the real oppressors. The is nothing more oppressive and cynical then oblivious egalitarianism. When it comes down to it… and no one is watching…. What is the better read? Freud or Jung? The only thing that is exciting that Jung ever wrote was his autobiography… because he looks into the darkness of himself. while Freud looked into the darkness of friction of the world. Everyone likes to go hang out with the wine and cheese crowd and talk about the “collective unconscious” or the bullshit institutional P.R. work of Anna Freud. All this technology is nothing but sexual repression. Never confuse yourself otherwise into being a cyborg that masturbates.
Very interesting post ! In effect even if I’m a technological engineer I do believe that the real Web 2.0 revolution has been brought about a brand new kind of general organization. It’s maybe the most pervasive technology ever invented !
Giuseppe:
I believe that web 2.0 has only brought the same old need for human interaction to the digital world, enabling us to connect with others no matter where they are located, what religion they believe in, or any other limitations. This is what makes it such a strong force indeed.
Taoism – what’s wrong with Judaism?
Adrian:
I am afraid you’ll have to direct your question to Stowe on his blog
http://www.stoweboyd.com/
It is rare that I have the attention span for a full post and the comments, and even leave a comment, but this post was worth it.
We just started a new media site called israelplug.com so the part about the media was especially relevant.
Thanks for your kind words.
BTW I checked out your site israelplug.com – looks really interesting. I’ll be sure to visit you there.
[...] Web 2.0 and the new tribalism [...]
[...] Web 2.0 and the new tribalism http://www.blonde2dot0.com/blog/2007/08/13/web-20-and-the-new-tribalism/ [...]
[...] Web 2.0 and the new tribalism [...]
[...] that we always had and will always continue to have as long as we are human. I had written about this topic in the past. To say that social media is just a fad is to say that communication is just a fad. [...]
[...] that we always had and will always continue to have as long as we are human. I had written about this topic in the past. To say that social media is just a fad is to say that communication is just a fad. [...]
[...] that we always had and will always continue to have as long as we are human. I had written about this topic in the past. To say that social media is just a fad is to say that communication is just a fad. [...]
[...] that we always had and will always continue to have as long as we are human. I had written about this topic in the past. To say that social media is just a fad is to say that communication is just a fad. [...]
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You will not prompt to me, where I can read about it?
I belong to a tribe that doesn’t even exist yet. It is called “HamaNar”; the “People Of Hope”. It is intended to be the first tribe of Narbarism, but this may not turn out this way.
Right now and since 1963, Narbarism has been my refuge from Modern Capitalist Culture. A cyber space or web place, mostly, where I can try and turn what “Should Be” into reality. I say “mostly” because there are some real things that are Narbarian. A few pieces of leather and rustic woodcraft.
But Narbarism will, for a long time, be dependent on the very culture that spawned it. I guess one could say that Narbarism is a modified form of the American Culture.
But this is enjoyable. A great hobby, one might say. Making something More and Better. More worthy of Creator. Less selfish and wasteful. Kinder to Humanity and Our World.
I guess it does truly exist for me. A very satisfying escape from the world as We know it.