I listen to a lot of podcasts. (I might even produce one myself, rumor has it.)
One that I find fascinating is IRL - Online Life is Real Life, presented by Mozilla.
The recent episode "Bullying And Bonding Online" explores social bonding online, ostracism/shunning, the rush to judge people online, and an interesting app for teenagers to use to build social bonds.
In a way, Second Life is a social network for the vulnerable, allowing people to connect with others in the space that they create.
And yet, we fall into old habits of "one of us" mentality" and cliques and groups, and shunning.
It does impact others...
Veronica: What’s the brain science behind this? What happens at the software level when I’m getting shunned?
Kip Williams: In the short-term, it activates the pain detection centers of the brain just like the same area of the brain that is activated when you are in physical pain. Your self-esteem drops, your feelings of belonging drop. Your feelings of control over your environment drops, and your feelings of worthiness of attention drop. You feel invisible. Your mood, you become angry and sad, kind of alternating back and forth.So, instead of building walls, build bridges... right?
And I think every dance group is a bridge... and Dance Queens is a bridge that connects those bridges.
I didn't really think this one through too much, but it sounded good.
And Jon Ronson's a hoot.