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I'm old enough to remember changing TV channels by hand, not with a remote. As a result, we only sometimes changed the channel. Because we rarely changed the channel, one minute as kids we'd be watching "Wide World of Sports" and the next we'd be watching "Outer Limits." Today I have literally hundreds of video channels to choose from. I have little, in fact no tolerance for watching programs I specifically do not want to watch. My time in front of the TV is designed all around my interests. I am no longer exposed to program variety.
The same phenomenon applies to the Internet, only more so. Internet time is designed around my narrowest interests because, unlike television, I can search and select only the Internet content I want. Also unlike television, I am not passive when it comes to the Internet, I am the dominant decision maker. The Internet allows me to interact with other people, in fact to cultivate a social group with other people based on our shared needs, interests, and/or desires. Interests like guns, hunting, religion, and ancient history.
Television and especially the Internet have altered my social reality, my tribal identity. One may say I am a member of the American "tribe," the Pacific Northwest "tribe," or even the Vancouver, Washington "tribe" based on where I live and the culture I live in. But as a gun enthusiast and absolute supporter of the Second Amendment I am also a member of the Northwest Firearms "tribe." In fact, it is possible that I have psychologically transitioned to be more a member of Internet tribes than I am a member of geographical tribes.
A traditional tribe may be defined as a social group bound by close familial and socioeconomic ties with a common culture and affiliated with a geographical territory. But the Internet has expanded that definition. Familial and socioeconomic ties are rendered irrelevant in the virtual space, cultural ties are supplanted by ties based on our narrowest interests, and with worldwide reach geographical territory has become a secondary consideration at best.
But make no mistake, the social cohesion that comes with an Internet tribe can be just as strong, if not stronger, than a traditional geography-based tribe. We become invested in our tribes through our participation -- in effect, the Internet has made politicians out of an unprecedented number of people through their tribal participation. And because our Internet tribes are typically based on our narrowest interests they create ongoing opportunity for development of extremist sentiments and disparagement of other "non-conforming" tribes. That doesn't necessarily mean we must go along with the extremism as an Internet tribal member, but certainly the ongoing psychological influence is there. Our perspectives get skewed, so skewed in fact that tribal members regard words like compromise, tolerance, concession, and cooperation as "dirty words."
Be they geographical or virtual, tribes will conflict with other tribes. Not just disagreement, but conflict. On the Internet, we see low-level evidence of those conflicts when people personalize their arguments into snarky attacks against another person, or when describing other tribes. Conflicts increase and become more abrasive when insults are spewed, often peppered with vulgarization and profanity. Some tribal members may just think it good fun to participate in conflict, but as we have all seen before tribal conflict can eventually lead to threats against other people and other tribes.
Internet tribes often cross over into the real world. Normal social guardrails that moderate our behavior in the real world are largely non-existent in our virtual worlds, despite the efforts of forum moderators. Tribes may transition and coalesce around a common purpose, and in the most extreme examples that common purpose can be a call to threats, intimidation, and even violence in the real world. When the virtual and real world come into conflict, the real world can lose. Just look at the recent illegal protests in front of SCOTUS homes, how the Internet facilitates ANTIFA and its culture of violence in cities, or the recent Buffalo shooter and his violent racism. Worryingly, tribal extremism can psychologically displace our traditional identities based on family, socioeconomics, culture, and geography. Not good.
I raise these issues not to lament free speech or to disparage the Internet. Clearly, the Internet has been a boon to mankind in countless ways. And the inherent irony is that this message is not only provided via the Internet, but more pointedly to the virtual Northwest Firearms tribe. But I am concerned about what the Internet is doing to us, and I do hope to stimulate self-reflection, perspective, and perhaps discussion about the potential dark side of these virtual tribes.
The same phenomenon applies to the Internet, only more so. Internet time is designed around my narrowest interests because, unlike television, I can search and select only the Internet content I want. Also unlike television, I am not passive when it comes to the Internet, I am the dominant decision maker. The Internet allows me to interact with other people, in fact to cultivate a social group with other people based on our shared needs, interests, and/or desires. Interests like guns, hunting, religion, and ancient history.
Television and especially the Internet have altered my social reality, my tribal identity. One may say I am a member of the American "tribe," the Pacific Northwest "tribe," or even the Vancouver, Washington "tribe" based on where I live and the culture I live in. But as a gun enthusiast and absolute supporter of the Second Amendment I am also a member of the Northwest Firearms "tribe." In fact, it is possible that I have psychologically transitioned to be more a member of Internet tribes than I am a member of geographical tribes.
A traditional tribe may be defined as a social group bound by close familial and socioeconomic ties with a common culture and affiliated with a geographical territory. But the Internet has expanded that definition. Familial and socioeconomic ties are rendered irrelevant in the virtual space, cultural ties are supplanted by ties based on our narrowest interests, and with worldwide reach geographical territory has become a secondary consideration at best.
But make no mistake, the social cohesion that comes with an Internet tribe can be just as strong, if not stronger, than a traditional geography-based tribe. We become invested in our tribes through our participation -- in effect, the Internet has made politicians out of an unprecedented number of people through their tribal participation. And because our Internet tribes are typically based on our narrowest interests they create ongoing opportunity for development of extremist sentiments and disparagement of other "non-conforming" tribes. That doesn't necessarily mean we must go along with the extremism as an Internet tribal member, but certainly the ongoing psychological influence is there. Our perspectives get skewed, so skewed in fact that tribal members regard words like compromise, tolerance, concession, and cooperation as "dirty words."
Be they geographical or virtual, tribes will conflict with other tribes. Not just disagreement, but conflict. On the Internet, we see low-level evidence of those conflicts when people personalize their arguments into snarky attacks against another person, or when describing other tribes. Conflicts increase and become more abrasive when insults are spewed, often peppered with vulgarization and profanity. Some tribal members may just think it good fun to participate in conflict, but as we have all seen before tribal conflict can eventually lead to threats against other people and other tribes.
Internet tribes often cross over into the real world. Normal social guardrails that moderate our behavior in the real world are largely non-existent in our virtual worlds, despite the efforts of forum moderators. Tribes may transition and coalesce around a common purpose, and in the most extreme examples that common purpose can be a call to threats, intimidation, and even violence in the real world. When the virtual and real world come into conflict, the real world can lose. Just look at the recent illegal protests in front of SCOTUS homes, how the Internet facilitates ANTIFA and its culture of violence in cities, or the recent Buffalo shooter and his violent racism. Worryingly, tribal extremism can psychologically displace our traditional identities based on family, socioeconomics, culture, and geography. Not good.
I raise these issues not to lament free speech or to disparage the Internet. Clearly, the Internet has been a boon to mankind in countless ways. And the inherent irony is that this message is not only provided via the Internet, but more pointedly to the virtual Northwest Firearms tribe. But I am concerned about what the Internet is doing to us, and I do hope to stimulate self-reflection, perspective, and perhaps discussion about the potential dark side of these virtual tribes.
