Having become a heavy Twitter user these past few months I can now classify myself as an individual within a tribe. The Twitter tribe I belong to consists of groups of individuals such as myself who share a common interest (Twitter) and unite to form a parallel social universe.
In my own case I’m interested in following those with a shared passion for social media and our universe is supported by rituals, for example sharing links to blog posts, pages etc… in the form of TinyUrls, retweeting ‘tweets’ that we identify with as well as asking questions and responding to others.
Decline in the use of social network sites such as Facebook
Like myself, using Twitter I’m sure has now become a habit for many. Not only do I regularly tweet throughout the day but in an evening I regularly use Twitter and enjoy doing so because I’m learning, engaging, participating all at the same time with like minded people.
I have seen the stats of my use of social network sites such as Facebook rapidly decline. I rarely login to check what is going on with my friends and family on Facebook, not because I’m not interested, but because I want to spend my time engaging and interacting with like minded individuals (people like me) in my own parallel universe on Twitter.
My very close friends and family would be bored to tears listening to talk about social media marketing and engagement marketing, but with my Twitter tribe we can all tweet for hours about a subject we feel passionate about. So is the Twitter tribe starting to replace a certain role once provided by my family and friends via Facebook?
The inner workings of the tribe
Taking this further can the Twitter social universe that I’m a part of be defined as a church where we all congregate to celebrate what we are most passionate about, which for myself is social media? I’m not going to use the word ‘cult’ to associate this to my tribe as there are negative connotations associated with the word, however the behaviour displayed by some Twitter consumers comes very close to that of a cult.
Twitter could be seen as a place of worship of icons that we admire within the social media world where many individuals are increasingly likely to conform to the influences of their peers.
These icons for me such as @jowyang, @ChrisBrogan, @ScottMonty are evangelists of social media whom represent both a career and passion for many.
It is not uncommon when these icons reply to followers they feel that they have been blessed, which further encourages their need to particpate in the tribe, continuing their journey on Twitter enlightenment!
Many tweets I have witnessed publically declare they “cannot believe that @Scobelizer has replied”directly to them or that @StephenFry “just tweeted me back” - but this is just one part of the enjoyment of using Twitter, other Twit fun includes building up your social graph, discovering great content, tools and research.
One tweet I have used to sum up Twitter that has been retweeted by many who also identify with my sentiment is: ”I cannot believe how addictive twitter can be - it is voyeuristic as well as participatory.”
Come and Join me in my social universe at: http://www.twitter.com/tomchapman
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Jeremiah Owyang 12.19.08 at 5:00 pm
Cool, thanks for the mention, the tribe only works when we all come together. Each tribe uses different tools –Facebook is certainly a great tool for the mainstream, Zuckerberg told me Tuesday that they now have 140mm users! Unconfirmed stats I’ve seen of Twitter are ranging from 4-6mm
Tom Chapman 12.19.08 at 5:15 pm
Thanks Jeremiah! You’ve helped reinforce the theory of my post here. Twitter is definitely increasing in popularity and just as you stated, it is all down to different tools for different tribes and getting the most through the community coming together.
Janelle Hardacre 12.19.08 at 10:02 pm
I’m a complete newbie to Twitter, but I think I can already feel my obession beginning. Twitter now pops up as my homepage alongside Facebook which is a pretty big sign. Once I get the hang of this thing I hope I will feel welcomed into the congregation of the tribe!
P.S- Great Blog! (Discovered through Twitter- Oh the possibilities)
Tom Chapman 12.19.08 at 11:05 pm
Thanks Janelle. Make sure you take it easy… mind you I’m one to talk - ignore that get stuck right in! As with any community participate in conversations, add value, be yourself and most importantly enjoy.