Tuesday, March 13, 2012

intersection

Recently, I have become a part of a small sub-community that makes its home on TeamLiquid forums and in an IRC channel: TLPonies, a group of people who are fans of both eSports and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This has reminded me of a certain observation I have made.

My favourite type of community is, after all, a small one. While it is quite inspiring to be a part of something greater much like indeed eSports, I mostly find myself having the best times in small social circles.

Such tiny sub-communities are often either defined by more than one interest or are simply less common (Aikido). As such, the people who do, in fact, seek out such sub-communities are often shaped by the interests they pursue. 

This creates a filter for shared traits, the amount of which rises as the filter narrows. As such, while in a huge community there will be all kinds of people, in a small one the people you get will often share additional interests beyond the few that define their sub-community. It becomes much easier to find that middle ground, that common language which is so important in binding societies large and small alike.

I even have a few examples to give you an idea of what I mean. I have met among TLponies some people who are aware of Isis, Cult of Luna or Neurosis, some who have raided in WoW, a person who knows Aikido somewhat closely. This may not seem that special, especially the WoW example, but the truth is that I find it rare to find so much common ground with others in any community. 

Another great aspect of such small communities is how they're a lot more personal. You generally recognize everyone, everyone is aware of you and this creates more familiarity and makes interactions more interesting. The size aspect alone is why I preferred 10-man raiding once it was a thing in WoW.

That is why I enjoy hanging out in the TLponies IRC so much and that is also why I mostly chose roleplaying servers and kept to my guild more than I posted on the realm forums (although I did use to post a lot more in WoW Vanilla/TBC).  That is also why I rarely post on forums in general (such as Reddit or TL outside of the pony thread). 

And yeah, this post is basically one huge shoutout :D I tried to make a point with it, at least. You guys are completely awesome.