Tribalism and Twitter

This is not a scholarly work as I have no training in Sociology or any other discipline that might pertain to the word “tribalism”.  In fact I only learned the word a few years ago and have gradually decided that it explains a lot of things I notice in the world around me.  I gave some definitions in the pre-post, so I won’t repeat them here.

 What I see going on in the “Twitterverse” today seems to revolve around two axes.  One axis is relations between the genders (and variations therein).  The other rotates about matters of religion.  There seems to be very little discussion of race, economics, or ethics and morality except where they intersect with these first two items.

 Now, maybe it’s just the group I’m hanging out with, but I don’t think so.  Anywhere that there is a discussion more involved than “what’s on TV tonight” these two factors of (let’s just label them) “sex” and “religion” don’t seem to be far away.

 Here are some observations:

 There don’t seem to be a lot of “subject matter experts”.   Maybe it is because with Twitter you can at most link to a longer blog post or Youtube video, but it really is hard to have a discussion that is limited to only soundbites.  Forcing brevity has its advantages, but one of the advantages is not being able to delve too deeply into any subject.  In 140 characters the opinions expressed by the true experts look a lot like those of the amateurs.  In fact, maybe that alone is why Twitter is so popular.  They call it “micro-blogging” at the company I believe.  Maybe a more descriptive name would be “blogging for the lazy”.

 Name calling fits nicely into the 140 character limit.  Detailed exposition does not.  I’d bet that most school-yard taunts would fit easily into a Twitter message.  And while on schoolyards, the maturity level of many Twitter users seems to have been arrested around 7th grade.  Mature enough to interact with the world and all it’s complexities, but not nearly mature enough to master them.  Or even come close.  As an Internet introvert myself I am not just casting stones.  Before Twitter there were other instant messaging systems, and before that there were virtual reality systems and of those that still exist, the inhabitants have largely not advance one iota.  Or maybe I should say that the ones that advance to maturity just leave, rather than sticking around and infecting the newcomers with that “disease”.

 So, should we be surprised that group A claims that group B is persecuting them while at the same time group B makes the same claim in reverse?  It’s the Hatfields vs the McCoys or the Christians and the Muslims all in a (thankfully) relatively harmless microcosm.  An oft repeated error in twitter resembles the notion that "if all terrorists are Muslims, then all Muslims must be terrorists."  Just as the concept in false when applied to Muslims and Terrorists, it is also false, universally when used on Twitter with respect to MRMs, feminists, atheists, and believers.  But few Twitter users seem to take notice of the fallacy.

 Is it possible to fix Twitter (or any similar system) so that adult-level discussions can take place over a span of time?  I’m tempted to think not.   In fact I’m tempted to think if something as simple as an “abuse” button were added to the system (and all the edge conditions could be worked out) that those left would simply figure out that they should be having their discussions in some long form such as blogging (written) or Google Hang-outs (spoken).

 If the people at Twitter (the company) see it in this way, don’t look for any quick fixes to the “abuse” problem.

It’s their bread and butter.