Hello David - Alex Golub's information on the term"tribe" is very good. If you would like information on the current use of the terminology to describe the gropings and organization of online cultures, give Steve Wheeler's "Connected Minds, Emerging Cultures" a look. He has a chapter titled "Digital Tribes, Virtual Clans" that goes into a good introduction of his perception of the delineation. While the term is problematic as it arose in anthropology historically, folks in CMC, social networking analysis, and HCI use it quite regularly with a very specific definition. Denice Szafran Visiting Lecturer and Coordinator of the Linguistics Minor Anthropology Department 13F Sturges, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454 585-245-5174
air-l@listserv.aoir.org
Hello In 1871 Charles Darwin mentioned the notion of tribes in his book 'Descent of Man'. I am conducting some preliminary secondary research into the nature and activities of online, primarily social media based 'tribes'. I am looking for: 1. sources of literature from a general Social Sciences / Humanities perspective 2. any research or case studies that exist (preferably qualitative) Please note my interest and future focus is Australasian in nature, however any sources would be helpful. I am also particularly interested in any data on youth based (or managed social media) tribal activity. Any assistance / guidance at this very preliminary stage would be greatly appreciated. Regards David W Reid Lecturer, Advertising SCCI, Faculty of Arts Charles Sturt University Australia dareid@csu.edu.au http://au.linkedi