Tribes, “true” fans, and everybody else

Despite my excessive comment at the bottom of the page, this article is an interesting exploration of music fandom and the conflicts inherent to classification and group identity:

“The Language of Tribes: True Fans and Outsiders”
by Kyle Bylin

The difference of opinion, or lack thereof, that occurs between members of the same tribe, is what characterizes what type of fan they are, how passionate they are about the music, and the depth of involvement they have.  In Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, Seth Godin argues that, “Tribes are about faith – about belief in an idea and in a community.”  He believes that “they are grounded in respect and admiration for the leader of the tribe and for the other members as well.”  But, do members of the same tribe actually respect each other wholeheartedly?  Or, are there ways in which certain members become discriminated against?  In the domain of music, there are hierarchies of “true fans” and lesser, or “casual fans.”  Through speaking in the language of their tribe, members clarify who belongs and who’s an outsider.

I don’t agree with every point in the article, but I think Bylin does a good job presenting a topic that, as I said in the comments, is touched upon often in passing but rarely explored formally as a whole.

You can’t explore a fan phenomenon like the flag without meditating on fandom itself, and while I find the meta-ness of it pretty wanky at times, there’s no escaping the insider/outsider aspects of group identification and self-identification with a group. “Tribe” is the most recent buzzword, but whether you call it a tribe, a fandom, a clan, a brotherhood, a community, a congregation, a culture, the implications are the same: even despite absence of intent or action, the flip-side of inclusion of some is exclusion of others. An Us doesn’t always have a Them, but its very existence creates a Not-Us.

Over-thinking? Maybe. It’s an uncomfortable idea to explore, especially when the reason for grouping together with others is a positive one. But consider: have you ever felt like your choices or experiences had been challenged by simply hearing about someone else’s? Say, that you learned someone is or isn’t a vegetarian? That he or she voted for a different candidate? Does or doesn’t believe in aliens? Prefers John or Paul or Ringo or George? Kirk or Spock?

Have you ever ended a story with ”You had to be there”?

Many thanks to Nicole Pellegrini for the link.