(Also posted at Social Media World)

Recently my co-blogger (and friend) Jessica wrote an article on the ‘The “Corporification” of Humanity”, outlining her concerns that social media is turning individuals into corporate brands by having huge social media “friends” lists that turned out to be nothing more than ‘fans’ and ‘social media stalkers’.

While I can see her (and Technosailor’s) point. I respectfully disagree that this is something that social media has created. Individuals have always had circles of friendship – each circle becoming larger as you move the level of their knowledge and involvement in your life.

First, there’s your “closer than a brother” friends, who are always there for you and will drive 1,000 miles to pick you up when your car dies. These friends are rare and hard to find.

Then, there’s your “best friend” friends that you share a lot of your life with. This is a slightly larger group than the first one, but still small.

After that is your “friends.” These are the people you hang out with, but maybe don’t know every detail of your life. These people in social media would recognize your screen name and associate it with your real name. They know a handful of salient facts (i.e. where you live, what you do for a living and what you’ve been up to lately). In your local area, these are people who remember your birthday and make you a cake.This is a fairly medium sized group of people.

Then there’s your “acquaintances.” These are people who know your real name, but may not talk to you on a regular basis. In your local area, these are the people who know “of you”. These can also be people you work with who don’t know much about you, but they are friendly and you converse on a very basic intimate level.
In social media these are people who skim read your Twitter, blog and whom you’ve had direct discussion with (email, IM). Usually these people are “equals” in the social media world (i.e. they’re a blogger, podcaster or social media user at a similar level of interaction with you).

Finally there’s your “fans”. People who know you, but you may have only a passing knowledge of. In your local area, these are the people who’ve read your book or seen you perform in a play. They know little of you beyond your professional or creative life. In the social media world these are the readers of your blog, your followers on Twitter who don’t fit in the above sections, or the viewers/listeners to your podcast/vodcast.

Does having fans make you less human? In some respects yes – we see that in Hollywood celebrities. They become more than human through their fans. Instead, they become topics of discussion and disection. But even Hollywood celebs still have these circles of friends around them where they engage most of their time. But, most celebs who have a good presence with their fans inspire more loyalty and better sustainability than celebs who treat their fans badly.

The idea comes down to the idea of “the Tribe.”

What is the Tribe? The tribe is a group of your social media friends who have banded together over nothing more than a particular shared interest. The Tribe I belong to is mostly podcasters and podcast listeners. The term was coined (I believe) by fellow podcaster, Tee Morris.

How is the tribe different from just fans? The Tribe bands together to help other members out. For example, yesterday a member of our tribe, C.A. Sizemore, lost his wife. Within moments news had traveled through Twitter, email and blogs about Sizemore’s loss. One of the members of the tribe – Mae, started a Chip In account to help the family out. Within a couple hours they had already raised over $700 and many of the people who donated have never met Sizemore and only know “of him”, yet they felt compelled to act. Why? Because of the Tribe.

This is just one example of the power of people you may not have met in person. I know whenever I put a call out online, I get help beyond what some of my local “friends” have done in my life. So today appreciate your friends, fans or whomever is on the other end of your communication line. ‘Cuz, as the song says, “we all need somebody to lean on.”

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