AINE O’CONNOR

The Pied Piper and the little blue bird

WE all join tribes. From our friends to our jeans, everything is a flag of who we want to be and how we want to be perceived. Social media amplifies this, offering a platform from which to broadcast your personal brand in between the kittens and Trump memes.

Twitter has its share of memes, but as it’s more word- and less picture-based than other platforms, it’s a natural home to the Thought Tribes.

I’m partial to a nice opinion myself, so for a time it felt like social media home. However, within the tribes there is a right way to think and a wrong way — on everything. As in any tribe there are hierarchies, which can all become a bit Pied Piper regarding what, and who, is correct and acceptable. There are no follow requests — so a hashtag or simple word search can lead total strangers to engage.

This can be wonderful but it can also get odd. There seem to be packs of people waiting with endless stores of righteous scorn to pour on the very souls of anyone daring to differ with an accepted tribal tenet.

Even when it it’s not nasty, it’s peculiar — because often it is based on the importances of an alternate universe. Things can have a huge importance online that are simply not as important to people in real life. There is a warped perspective that makes issues grow and polarise, and it can feel like the thought police.

I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, but still strangely addicted when the universe intervened. I changed phones and have been locked out of Twitter.

It’s a low-key end to my relationship with the little blue bird. I miss things and people, but opinions are no less valid when they’re not being policed.