I'm assuming, for this post, that you're using a browser with "tabs", and that you're familiar with Facebook. Hopefully, these are pretty safe assumptions.
Okay. Open this link in a new tab, and then tab back to this post. You'll get a Facebook group entitled "The Great Granfalloon", which was created purely to show off the points in this post. Take a quick look at it; the description of what the group is might amuse you.
Now, imagine each of the following, jumping over to the group and back as you go along....
...You just decided to join The Great Granfalloon, for whatever reason - just to play along, to make an ironic statement, so your friends will wonder what it is and get pulled over here, because you have a friend that already joined it (possibly me), whatever. You've got an extra label, an extra identity to add to your stockpile, however important or unimportant it is to you. Now, this basic 'grouping effect' doesn't require your action to happen - if someone labels you as being "one of theirs" it can bring you onto their side, even though all they did was say a few words. But it works best if you decided to take on the identity.
...You spent the time to read over the oddities given there, and decided to act on them just for the sake of humor. If you decided to do that, you would now be part of an identified in-group, with it's own special vocabulary (the name of the group itself), a unique greeting ("say shibboleth to each other"), and cryptic lore (this post you're reading). You've got more than just a label, now; you have behaviour. You're an insider, others are outsiders.
...You were prompted to invite other people to join the group, and decided to do so (Facebook will help you with this). As you go about selling other people on the group, and on joining it, you're also selling yourself on the group each and every time. You're affirming an identity as a group member. When political parties, religious cults, and charitable organisations get you to go out canvassing or recruiting for them, they aren't just getting you to do some needed work; they're solidifying your loyalty.
...Someone made fun of your membership, and you defended that membership against the attack. Again, you're selling yourself on the group while you do this. A group leader that wants to keep this process rolling can fabricate enemies - and can isolate the group by suggesting that any out-group person might be one. For purposes of The Great Granfalloon, let's say that I told you that our enemies are ninjas. Watch out for those subversive ninjas; they're everywhere. People who make fun of The Great Granfalloon? Ninjas.
...You were exposed to consistent, constant ideas that the leader was especially powerful, attractive, and the like. This is relatively tricky in this particular example, since I basically look like a muppet. So let's go with "really smart", which is probably believable if you squint; I know big words, right? As the leader (and founder!) of The Great Granfalloon, I am really, really smart. Tell other people this; it's less convincing coming from me. Oh, and it'll help you convince yourself, remember.
...You were told to imagine your interactions within the group in a positive way. This is, yet again, a way to get you to sell yourself. And it's hopefully not quite what I've been doing here, since I've been trying to show the negatives. But it may be close enough to make you feel a small twinge of distaste, as if I've been jerking you around. Which is fair.
Okay. Enough of that.
As with almost every single method of social manipulation, all of these things can and do happen entirely naturally, by instinct rather than by design. The difference between a social club and a cult is always a matter of degrees. But without groups of some kind, we can't resolve collective issues. Plus, it's damn lonely. With groups, we're in a position where our own membership can, and to some extent will, change who we are.
Picking your groups is part of managing who you are and who you intend to become. Sometimes, it can be a big part - joining Alchoholics Anonymous is a deliberate choice to try and shape your identity and to be influenced by a group. In some cases, it's a very small part. This is especially true where it comes to facebook groups, which are almost always totally trivial affirmations of some other opinion or identity you've already got, despite my ridiculous example.
(And, yes, I'd be amused as hell if people actually do decide to join up.)
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