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Tribe (internet)

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Asocial network diagramdisplaying tribesclusteredby friendship ties among a set ofFacebookusers

The termsinternet tribeordigital tribe[1]are used asslangterms for unofficial onlinecommunitiesororganizationsof people who share a common interest, and who are usually loosely affiliated with each other throughsocial mediaor otherInternetroutes. The term is related to "tribe",which traditionally refers to people closely associated in bothgeographyandgenealogy.[2]Nowadays, it looks more like avirtual communityor a personal network and it is often called global digital tribe. Mostanthropologistsagree that a tribe is a (small)societythat practices its own customs andculture,and that these define the tribe. The tribes are divided intoclans,with their own customs andcultural valuesthat differentiate them from activities that occur in 'real life' contexts. People feel more inclined to share and defend theirideasonsocial networksthan they would face to face.[citation needed]

Precedents[edit]

The term "tribe"originated around the time of theGreekcity-states and the early formation of theRoman Empire.TheLatinterm "tribus" has since been transformed to mean "A group of persons forming acommunityand claiming descent from a commonancestor"(Oxford English Dictionary, IX, 1933, p. 339, as cited in Fried, 1975, p. 7). As years passed by, the range of meanings have grown greater, for example,"Any of various systems ofsocial organizationcomprising several localvillages,bands,districts,lineages, or other groups and sharing a commonancestry,language,culture,andname"(Morris, 1980, p. 1369). Morris (1980) also notes that atribeis a "group of persons with a common occupation, interest, orhabit,"and"a large family."[2]Vestiges of ancient tribe communities were preserved in both large gatherings (likefootballmatches) and in small ones (likechurchcommunities). Even though nowadays the range of groups referred to as tribal is truly enormous, it was not until theindustrial societyeroded the tribal gatherings of more primitive societies and redefinedcommunity.However, the existence ofsocial mediaas we know it today is due to thepost-industrial societythat has seen the rapid growth ofpersonal computers,mobile phonesandthe Internet.People now cancollaborate,communicate,celebrate, commemorate, give their advice and share their ideas around these virtual clans that have once again redefined thesocial behaviour.[3]

That internet tribes exist, is an expression of the existence of a humantribal instinct.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

History[edit]

The first attempt of such socialcommunitiesdates back to at least 2003, whentribe.netwas launched.

Tribes from a technical perspective[edit]

Not only doTwittertribes have mutual interests,[10]but they also share potentiallysubconsciouslanguagefeatures as found in the 2013 study by researchers fromRoyal Holloway University of LondonandPrinceton.Dr. John Bryden from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway states that it is possible to anticipate which community somebody is likely to belong to, with up to 80 percent accuracy. This research shows that people try to joinsocietiesbased on the same interests andhobbies.In order to achieve this, publicly available messages were sent via Twitter to record conversations between two or more participants. As a result, each community can be characterised by their most used words. This approach can enrich new communities detection based on word analysis in order to automatically classify people insidesocial networks.The methods of identification of tribes relied heavily onalgorithmsand techniques fromstatistical physics,computational biologyandnetwork science.[11][12][13][14]

A different approach is taken by Tribefinder.[14]The system is able to identify tribal affiliations ofTwitterusers usingdeep learningandmachine learning.[14]The system establishes to which tribes individuals belong through the analysis of their tweets and the comparison of theirvocabulary.These tribal vocabularies are previously generated based on the vocabulary of tribal influencers and leaders using keywords expressing concepts, ideas and beliefs.

The final step to make the system learn on how to associate random individuals with specific tribes consists of the analysis of the language these influential tribal leaders use through deep learning. In so doing, classifiers are created using embedding andLSTM(long short-term memory) models. Specifically, these classifiers work by collecting the Twitter feeds of all the users from the tribes that Tribefinder is training on. On these,embeddingis applied to map words into vectors, which are then used as input for the following LSTM models. Tribefinder analyzes the individual's word usage in their tweets and then assigns the corresponding alternative realities, lifestyle, and recreation tribal affiliation based on the similarities with the specific tribal vocabularies.

An in-depth look into the research[edit]

The research had four main stages on which it focused: background, results, conclusions and methods.[11][15]

Background[edit]

Thelanguageis a system ofcommunicationconsisting ofsounds,words, andgrammar,or the system ofcommunicationused by people in a particularcountryor type of work.[16]Language is perhaps the most important characteristic that distinguishes human beings from other animals.[17]In addition, it has a wide range of social implications that can be associated withsocial or cultural groups.People usually group in communities with the same interests. This will result in a variation of the words they use because of the differentiation of terms from each domain. Therefore, thehypothesisof this study would be that this variation should closely match the community structure of thenetwork.To test this theory, around 250,000 users from thesocial networkingandmicrobloggingsite Twitter were monitored in order to analyse whether the groups identified had the same language features or not. As Twitter uses unstructured data and users can send messages to any other users, the study had to be based on complex algorithms. These algorithms had to determine the word frequency inside messages between people and make a link to the groups they usually visited.[11][15]

Results and discussion[edit]

Communication between and within tribes ofTwitterusersclusteredbased on word usage.Tribestend to communicate more within than between themselves.

The problem of detecting the community features is one of the main issues in the study of networking systems.Social networksnaturally tend to divide themselves into communities ormodules.[18]However, some world networks are too big so they must be simplified before information can be extracted.[19]As a result, an effective way of dealing with this drawback for smaller communities is by usingmodularityalgorithmsin order to partition users into even smallergroups.[18]For larger ones, a more efficient algorithm called 'map equation' decomposes anetworkintomodulesby optimally compressing a description of information flows on the network.[19]Each community was therefore characterised according to the words they used the most, based on a ranking algorithm. To determine the significance of word usage differences, word endings and word lengths were also measured and showed that thepatternfound was the correct one. Moreover, these studies also helped in predicting community membership of users, by comparing their own word frequencies with community word usage. This helped in forecasting which community a certain user is going to access based on the words that they are using.[11]

The proportion of users whose topological community association is correctly predicted by the study.

Conclusions[edit]

An illustration of the method for predicting which community a user is embedded in.

The aim of this research was to study the bond between community structure in a social network environment and language use within the community. The striking pattern that was found suggests that people from different clans tend to use different words based on their own interests and hobbies.[12]Even though this approach did not manage to cover all people inside Twitter, it has several advantages over ordinary surveys that cover a smaller scale of groups: it is systematic, it is non-intrusive and it easily produces large volumes of richdata.Moreover, other cultural characteristics can be found out when extending this study. For example, whether individuals that belong to multiple communities use different word sets in each of them.[11][15]

Methods[edit]

A process calledsnowball-samplinghelped forming the samplenetwork.[15]Each user'stweetsand messages were recorded and any new users referenced were added to a list from where they were picked to be sampled. Messages that were copies have been ignored. In order to find out the words that characterise each clan, the fraction of people that use a certain word was compared with the fraction of people that use that word globally. The difference between communities has also been measured by comparing the relative word usage frequency.[11]

Different spellings within tribes[edit]

Words,and the way wespellthem are in a continuous change, as we find new ways to communicate. Despite the fact that traditionaldictionariesdo not take into account the changes, online ones have adopted many of them.[20]An interesting fact outlined in the research above is that communities tend to use their own distinctive spelling for words. According to ProfessorVincent JansenfromRoyal Hollowayonline communities spell words in different ways, just as people have different regionalaccents.[13]For example,Justin Bieberfans tend to end words in"ee"as in"pleasee",while school teachers tend to use long words. Moreover, the largest group found in the study was composed ofAfrican Americanswho were using the words"nigga","poppin",and"chillin".Members of this community also tend to shorten the ends of the words, replacing"ing"with"in"and"er"with"a".[12]

The campfire[edit]

Each tribe has anonline-platform(such asFlickrorTumblr), called campfire around which they gather. These campfires tend to enable one or more of the following three tribal activities:[1]

However, some brands are building their own tribes aroundplatformsoutside of these.

Cooperation[edit]

Cooperationis the action of working together to the same end.[21]Cooperation developed naturally over time, as it helped companies to streamline their research costs and to better answer to users' requirements. As a result, nowadays organisations are looking for flexible structures that can easily adapt to this rapidly changing environment.Groupwaresystems perfectly cater to these needs of companies. Informalcommunicationpredominates and specialists in certain domains exchange their experience with other people within the groupware environment.Collaborationand cooperation are available through instant messages; people can discuss, chat and swap ideas.[citation needed]Moreover, people can work together while they are located remotely from each other.[22]Groupware can be split into three categories:communication,collaborationandcoordination,depending on the level of cooperation and technology involved in the process.[23]One of the biggest and well-known cooperation software is Wikipedia.

The logo of Wikipedia

Wikipedia[edit]

Wikipediais acollaborative softwarebecause anyone can edit it. Any user can edit articles, view past revisions and discuss through a forum the current state of each article. Due to the fact that anyone can change it and findinformationvery quickly, it has become one of the 10 most accessed sites on the Internet.[24]

Advantages[edit]

Wikipedia has many advantages over other encyclopedias:[24][25]

  • It is free and open for anyone on the Internet;
  • All past edits and chats from the forum are public and everyone can see them;
  • Updates happen frequently;
  • It contains millions of articles;
  • Easy to use and learn;

Disadvantages[edit]

However, there are also some drawbacks:[24][25]

  • Information can be inaccurate;
  • It is open tospamandvandalism;
  • Some articles can contain omissions and be hard to understand;
  • It can be too open sometimes (forconfidentialdocumentation);
  • It requires Internet connectivity.
  • It has a bias as most moderators and users are young and males.

Communication[edit]

Communicationis the act or an instance of communicating; the imparting or exchange ofinformation,ideas,orfeelings.[26]Communication has drastically changed over time andsocial networkshave changed the way peoplecommunicate.[27]Even though people]can interact with each other 24/7, there is a new wave of barriers andthreats.In theworkplaceenvironment, electronic Communication has overtaken face-to-face and voice-to-voice Communication by far. This major shift has been done in advantage ofGeneration Y,who preferinstant messagingthan talking directly to someone. It is often said that it could become an ironic twist, butsocial mediahas the real potential of making us less social.[28]However, there are studies that confirm that people are becoming more social, but the style in which they interact with each other has changed a lot. One of the major drawbacks of social networks isprivacy,as people tend to trust others more rapidly and send more openmessagesabout themselves. As a result, personal information can be easily exposed to other persons.[29]TwitterandFacebookare two of the biggest social networks in the world.

Facebook[edit]

Facebookis currently the largest social network in the world with more than 1 billion people using this website. This actually means that approximately one in seven people on Earth use Facebook.[30]Facebook users share their stories, images and videos in order to celebrate and commemorate events together. They can also playsocial gamesand like other Facebook pages.[3]Moreover, there is also a section called'News Feed'where users can see social information from theirfriendsor from the pages that they liked or shared. Each user has their own profile page that is called 'wall', where they can post all the above-mentioned materials (their friends can do this as well).[31]The biggest advantage of Facebook is that you can make new friends, as well as find oldacquaintancesand restartsocialisingwith them. One of the most useful feature of Facebook is the existence ofgroups.Users with the same interests can create a new group or take part in already existing ones to debate information and exchange their ideas. However, there are also groups that are created to declare an affiliation, such as an obsession for different subjects.[32]

Twitter[edit]

Twitteris another social network that allows users to send and read short messages called 'tweets'. Even though messages can contain only 280 characters, this is the perfect length for sending status updates to followers.[33]The main advantage of Twitter is that people can gain followers quickly and share ideas andlinksvery fast. There arenetworksof influential people who can be connected via Twitter.[34]On Twitter, tribes manifest themselves as followers of either a person, a company or an institution. As a result, it can be used as amarketingtool to make someone'sproductvisible, on condition that a big tribe of followers is created. In order to do this, the right community must be built, as finding the right people can be a challenge.[35]There are some steps that users could take into account in order to make connections and therefore make people follow them: search using Twitter search, follow the followers of other users, look at Twitter Lists, use #Hashtagsand findthird-partyprograms.[34]

Conclusion[edit]

AsSeth Godinstates, "The Internet eliminated geography".[1]People join tribes or clans because they find and share the same ideas and interests with other people.[10]The main disadvantage of old tribes is that they could not influence group behaviour. On the other hand, new tribes are self-sustaining and can survive without a leader, they are not necessarily dialogue based and they are long lasting. As it has been demonstrated within this article, tribes have influenced the way languages, organisations and cultures work.[1]They have redefined old concepts with the help of social media and have changed the way people will interact in the future.[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcd"Digital Tribes - Creating Behaviour Change in Users - The UX Review".The UX Review.2013-10-29.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  2. ^abGregory, Robert J. (2003)."Tribes and Tribal: Origin, Use, and Future of the Concept".Studies of Tribes and Tribals.1:1–5.doi:10.1080/0972639X.2003.11886479.S2CID46994567.
  3. ^abc"Learning with 'e's: Global digital tribe".steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.uk.Retrieved2015-11-02.
  4. ^Bazalgette, Peter(2017)."New tribal instinct: Our pack mentality has become more pronounced as we spend more time online, the author argues".Index on Censorship.46(3): 87–89.doi:10.1177/0306422017730968.
  5. ^Soper, J. Christopher (2001)."Tribal Instinct and Religious Persecution: Why Do Western European States Behave So Badly?".Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.40(2).Microsoft:Microsoft Academic:177–180.doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00048.RetrievedMay 22,2021.[dead link]
  6. ^Richerson, Peter J.; Boyd, Robert."The Evolution of Subjective Commitment to Groups: A Tribal Instincts Hypothesis"(PDF).Department of Environmental Science @University of California at Davis:ucdavis.edu.RetrievedMay 21,2021.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  7. ^Richerson, Peter; Henrich, Joe (2012)."Tribal Social Instincts and the Cultural Evolution of Institutions to Solve Collective Action Problems".Cliodynamics: The Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution.3(1).Microsoft Academic:microsoft.doi:10.21237/C7CLIO3112453.Archived(PDF)from the original on 22 May 2021.RetrievedMay 22,2021– via archive.today.
  8. ^Zacchia, Camillo (December 21, 2016)."Tribalism Remains Mankind's Most Dangerous Instinct".huffingtonpost.ca/camillo-zacchia-phd.Archived fromthe originalon 22 May 2021.RetrievedMay 22,2021.
  9. ^Caramani, Daniele (23 March 2017)."Not everybody has the tribal instinct".University of Zurich,Switzerland;ft.Archived fromthe originalon 22 May 2021.Retrieved22 May2021.
  10. ^abCragg, Michael (April 2011)."The rise of the Twitter tribes".the Guardian.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  11. ^abcdefBryden, John; Funk, Sebastian; Jansen, Vincent AA (2013-02-25)."Word usage mirrors community structure in the online social network Twitter".EPJ Data Science.2(1): 3.doi:10.1140/epjds15.ISSN2193-1127.
  12. ^abcRodrigues, Jason (2013-03-15)."Twitter users forming tribes with own language, tweet analysis shows".the Guardian.Retrieved2015-10-31.
  13. ^ab"People with same interests or occupation form 'tribes' on Twitter | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis".dna.2013-03-15.Retrieved2015-10-31.
  14. ^abcGloor, P.; Fronzetti Colladon, A.; de Oliveira, J.; Rovelli, P."Identifying Tribes on Twitter through Shared Context"(PDF).ICKN Intelligent Collaborative Knowledge Networks.Retrieved2018-09-11.
  15. ^abcdBryden, John; Funk, Sebastian; Jansen, Vincent AA (2013)."Word usage mirrors community structure in the online social network Twitter - Springer".EPJ Data Science.2.doi:10.1140/epjds15.
  16. ^"language Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary".dictionary.cambridge.org.Retrieved2015-10-31.
  17. ^Nowak, Martin A.; Plotkin, Joshua B.; Jansen, Vincent A. A. (2000). "The evolution of syntactic communication".Nature.404(6777): 495–498.Bibcode:2000Natur.404..495N.doi:10.1038/35006635.PMID10761917.S2CID2304018.
  18. ^abNewman, M. E. J. (2006-06-06)."Modularity and community structure in networks".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.103(23): 8577–8582.arXiv:physics/0602124.Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.8577N.doi:10.1073/pnas.0601602103.ISSN0027-8424.PMC1482622.PMID16723398.
  19. ^ab"mapequation.org - publications".mapequation.org.Retrieved2015-10-31.
  20. ^"Misspellings show language's evolution, but does that mean they're OK for journalists to use? | Poynter".poynter.org.Retrieved2015-10-31.
  21. ^"cooperation - definition of cooperation in English from the Oxford dictionary".oxforddictionaries.Archived fromthe originalon July 27, 2012.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  22. ^"What is groupware? - Definition from WhatIs".SearchDomino.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  23. ^"Groupware: Communication, Collaboration and Coordination".2011-07-13. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.Retrieved2015-11-01.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^abc"Using the Web to Get Stuff Done: What is Wikipedia?".GCFLearnFree.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2015-11-14.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  25. ^ab"The Advantages and Disadvantages Of Using Wikipedia For Research - Youth Village".Youth Village.2014-10-09.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  26. ^"Definition of" communication "| Collins English Dictionary".collinsdictionary.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  27. ^Maggiani, Rich (2014)."Social Media and Its Effect on Communication"(PDF).solari.net/.Solari Communication. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 4 March 2016.Retrieved1 November2015.
  28. ^"Is Social Media Sabotaging Real Communication?".Forbes.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  29. ^"Social Media and Interpersonal Communication".socialworktoday.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  30. ^Elgot, Jessica (2015-08-28)."From relationships to revolutions: seven ways Facebook has changed the world".the Guardian.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  31. ^Ryan, Jennifer Anne (May 2008)."The Virtual Campfire: An Ethnography of Online Social Networking".wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/.Wesleyan University.Retrieved1 November2015.
  32. ^"The Group Dilemma".facebook.Retrieved2015-11-01.
  33. ^"New user FAQs".Twitter Help Center.Archived fromthe originalon 2015-10-30.Retrieved2015-11-02.
  34. ^ab"Twitter: Top 5 Ways to Find Your Tribe".The Book Designer.2012-01-11.Retrieved2015-11-02.
  35. ^"How to Build Your Twitter Tribe".Social Media Examiner.2011-05-05.Retrieved2015-11-02.

Further reading[edit]

  • Cory Doctorow,Eastern Standard Tribe,TOR, 1 March 2004,ISBN0-7653-0759-6
  • Seth Godin,Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us,Portfolio Hardcover, 16 October 2008,ISBN1-59184-233-6
  • John Briden, Sebastian Funk, Vincent AA Jansen,Word usage mirrors community structure in the online social network Twitter,25 February 2013,ISSN2193-1127
  • De Oliveira J.M., Gloor P.A.,GalaxyScope: Finding the "Truth of Tribes" on Social Media.27 March 2018,ISBN978-3-319-74295-3
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