In Chapter six of Design to Thrive, Dr. Howard talks about belonging and what it ultimately means to belong on different social media sites. If the website is structured correctly, people will develop a sense of togetherness- sort of like they are needed there on that site.
Different communities have different rituals to initiate new members into the community. Dr. Howard mentioned Hell Week of two different sorts (Navy Seals and GTAs). These Hell Weeks are for new members to get to know each other, the values of the group, and the other members. They are conducted by community elders, and at the end of the week, the new members are officially apart of the 'family.' Fraternities do this as well. After Hell Week, you are considered a brother and you are just 'one of the guys' and not a nameless pledge, but the boys now belong. They can wear the greek letters. They can go to the parties. They can hang out with the brothers and not actually do work for them. They now belong.
Belonging through visual elements and routine can go right along with the Greek-life situation. Once the pledges are brothers, like I said before, they can now wear the shirts and have the letters on their cars or their laptops. People who do not know them can see them and tie them to that organization because of the well-known symbols. For routine, girls all across the United States in sororities learn songs or chants about their community. They have "anthems" or things like that that every member of that organization knows and will know until they die. These songs are embedded in their minds and they can identify others through that routine.
The initiation process is so important when joining a new club or group in order to become part of that community. Once you've gone through that initiation process, no matter how bad it may be, you instantly become part of that organization and are considered a member. This creates a strong sense of belonging. I like how you mentioned the importance of symbols, not just for the person in the group, but also for people on the outside. They can look at someone and associate them with certain groups based on their logos and symbols that they wear or make visible. This allows others in the organization, as well as those not in the group, to recognize you immediately.
ReplyDeleteI feel that rituals like hell weeks for various organizations are a great way to generate a sense of belonging among their members, mostly because the initiates go through some sort of vigorous initiation together. They suffer together and for the most part succeed together. Hence the title "fraternity" - it builds a sort of brotherhood. The challenge for building social media, then, is how to create that sense of brotherhood among community members without the same type of rigorous process involved in hazing.
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