Identity

'Find your tribe'

'Find your tribe' implies that we all belong to a social tribe, group. These tribes are based on our choices and preferences in life, our ideological influences which we our subjects of. As subjects we are influenced and led by ideological apparatus, things like family, culture, media and religion. We are all subjected to these apparatus, some of which influence us strongly for example family, which provide the base of our socials norms and values, they are part of our grand narrative, path determined by ideological system. Identity is translated into tribal groups, and we proliferate an identity from these standings they form social structure, but are themselves constantly shifting, blurred as we pick n mix from all different aspects of social structure and influences. The fragmentation of society and proliferation of social tribes has led to a new age of freedom in social culture, creating a new level of subjectivity in social standing, changing the face of social existence.

Access and communication has altered social standing massively, from social networking sites to the digital audio revolution, we can now access information that before would have been harder to communicate. ''Social media revolution has played a part in ensuring that everyone has a voice - and a place for their voice to be heard ... technological advances mean that people are more connected than ever before''. Taken from an essay on what is changing for young people, this explains how the 'social media revolution' has structured the desire for numerous ways to express you.

Speech using the ideas and concepts of Michel Maffesoli

“The time of tribes is now!” Mass culture has disintegrated due to the proliferation of fragmented social tribes. The forthcoming and proliferation of fragmented culture has been lead by the development of the technology, and rise in consumer culture. Today social existence is constructed and based upon these fragmented social tribes, micro tribes are groups of people who share common interests, but they are not permanent groups, they are always changing, as social groups are influenced by consumer culture and pick and mix from aspects of social culture created complex combinations. The mass media is a powerful and firm base of fragmented culture, and provides a great deal of influence of social tribes, inducing the rise of identity politics. The fragmentation of society and proliferation of social tribes has led to a new age of freedom in social culture, changing the face of social existence.

These social tribes have resulted in a new direction in social history, it is clear that social tribes both lead and lean on the mass media, consuming and providing. With the growth of technology has come a growth in social proliferation, the development and growth of diversity. This growth has contributed greatly to social freedom we now experience today; it is what has had a massive part in leading this social fragmentation and the proliferation of social tribes.

Ideological apparatus 

An animation of the diagram we used in class ( I spelt my name wrong DOH!)

Ideological apparAtus is a term used to denote institutions such as education, religion, family, media, education, family etc which serve to transmit ideology to subjects. Everyone is subject to these apparatus and our path is determined by this ideological system. 

This diagram explains the level of subjectivity we have, what level of choice ' agency; exists within these apparatus. The stick figure represents me, a subject. Modern thought Said that identity was given, and fixed, for example we are born into families, who then in some way influence the way we behave, are morals and beliefs. Our family teach us how to behave in society and for some maybe pass on religious beliefs.

On the other hand the collage represents post-modern thinking, that identity is about choose, it is ever shifting and multiply we pick n mix from ideological apparatus. Post-modern thinking says that we don't have a fixed identity but are constantly flowing from thing to another, being led and shaped by these apparatus throughout our lives, this could be said what has lead to the proliferation of urban tribes.