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August 16, 2006
It's a Big Internet Out There
Hive Minds.
Few things amuse me more than watching people discuss message boards, email lists, and other various online communities, including blogs. Everyone has an opinion about them.
I think disillusionment with an online community comes mainly from a lack of understanding about the reality of the community. Let's take a message board for parents who are classically homeschooling their children: Just because a parent is a homeschooler does not, unfortunately, mean they are intellectually robust autodidacts seeking to join the Great Conversation. Thankfully, many are, but not enough to assume. You can't even assume it of classical homeschoolers.
But putting that aside, what do the vast majority of people, certainly the majority of homeschooling parents, come to message boards for? The come for the socialization. Sometimes they do come to think, to discuss, to debate, but most of the time they're tired and want to veg out. If we're charitable, we could even say that they're mentally tired after discussing the ethics of war and negotiation, or working with a child to translate Cicero. The result is the same. Most people are there because they want to relax, let off steam, whine, ask a question, feel like they've connected with someone in a stolen 15 seconds.
And then, of course, many, many people want to be one of the collective. They come for validation (though let's face it, sometimes the non-Borg come for validation too). Personally I love the whole hive mind concept, but perhaps that's because I've never, ever been subject to peer pressure. I operate by finding out what everyone else thinks - and I love to find out what everyone else thinks - and then doing things my way. I understand that others are not like that, and some come to depend on the hive mind for their every decision; I can't help them. I barely understand them.
Should we give into the urge to veg out online? Maybe not. Undoubtedly too much of it is bad for both the brain and real-life relationships. But some people take their intellectual stimulation elsewhere ... you know, in real life ... and so don't feel the need to engage in meaningful intellectual talk online. Or at least, not constantly. Perhaps not even often. It doesn't mean they don't think, learn, or discuss. Just not online.
So it amuses me when people feel that online groups let them down, because they have become one big, banal, social club. The group didn't become that. That's what it always was, from day one. To think otherwise is to fail to understand people online.
To have a specialized community online, in which the life of the mind is celebrated and banality is kept at bay, you have few options. You must set up your group deliberately with your goal in mind. You must state it clearly, to every prospective or new member. And then you must moderate it to keep out unwanted chatter. Your group will be small, and after the initial burst of activity, it will die down. If you're lucky, it won't die off. It will take constant work to maintain the group as you wish it to be. You will be fighting against entropy. The chatter will creep in, and the banality will follow. But if you are willing to put in the work, it is possible to have a great, focused group ... or at least one safe from the kind of chatter and whining you're trying to escape.
And it's as easy as ... doing it. The internet being what it is, anyone can have any kind of community. So the one you were at doesn't suit your needs? It's so easy to find another, or run one of your own, that it doesn't really bear complaining about. It's like complaining about blogs. If you don't like them, you don't read them. Your opinion on the worth or quality of the product is not likely to change anything, not in this world of free publishing.
You can't expect an online group to be anything for you. It is not a real group. It's not being what you want it to be? Well, then stop basing your needs and wants on a group of virtual people that someone else created and runs. It doesn't owe you anything.
Posted by lynx at August 16, 2006 4:09 PM
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Your group will be small, and after the initial burst of activity, it will die down. If you're lucky, it won't die off. It will take constant work to maintain the group as you wish it to be. You will be fighting against entropy. The chatter will creep in, and the banality will follow
Just wanted to mention that there has been a yahoo list for the discussion of the Lord Peter Wimsey books which has been running on topic for years. They have strict moderation rules and there's a sublist (called piffle) where threads which are not to the point get moved. I haven't been there in a while as I have no time but it was a vibrant, intelligent group which did function well. So, yes, it can be done but it requires a very firm moderator hand and IME, many people are not up to the task of telling people to shut up.
Posted by: hornblower at August 17, 2006 12:21 AM
LP is a wonderful example of a list staying on task. I think homeschool lists stray more easily because the moderation is not as strict, or the categories are too broad. I'm think of the WTM boards..the general board is aggravating to read because it is too scattered (among other reasons). It is important to not place all your hopes on one community, especially when you don't *really* know who they are. Like you said, the boards don't owe you a thing. Do you think women are more prone to this "internet hive mentality" then men? Or is it just the nature of the internet beast?
Posted by: Anne at August 17, 2006 9:37 AM
What exactly *is* a hive mind ?
I started hearing that term used but never defined.
I'm sitting here thinking it means "whatever the last person said" because the first two folks may post the same idea; but the next 3 post something different. And many of those reading don't post at all :-)
is a "hive mind" an internet-term? Does it just mean whatever people are responding?
I suppose I just need to get out more and learn more lingo.
I like to read what people think too and do my own thing anyway!
Posted by: LH at August 18, 2006 8:57 AM
When I say hive mind I really have two impressions: One, I mean people who believe that you must think and act exactly as those around you act and think. You must repeat everything and not show a glimmer of independent thought. Think junior high girl cliques.
Two, the hive could sometimes be a positive thing, all working to solve a particular problem, putting differences aside.
I think the first definition is harmful, and the second is gold when it can be found.
Posted by: Anne at August 18, 2006 1:35 PM
I see it used in both those ways, Anne. But again, it makes me laugh. There are many people who exert that kind of junior high peer pressure over the internet, and try to force their group members into some ridiculous homogeneity. But again, all it takes is a simple choice to not conform to what the little letters say.
I've found the hive mind to be sometimes depressing, sometimes a real eye-opener, but often terribly useful. If I have a question that I can't answer myself, I can put it out to the group. Invariably someone knows the answer, and six other people have opinions. It's great.
The downside is that we don't have to work as hard for information. We still have to think, though, in order to sift through the information and find what is applicable to our own lives.
So yes, sometimes "hive mind" is negative and even harmful, but sometimes it's a fantastic resource. Some people automatically think "Stepford" when they hear "hive mind." I admit, my first thought was of the queen bug in Ender's Game. But it doesn't have to be either.
Posted by: MamaLynx ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.caerdroia.org/116/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 18, 2006 4:42 PM