A Tribe of One’s Own
If the white dude with the mullet can find his tribe, why can't I?
Newbie bloggers are often given this advice: Find your tribe. There was even a terrific panel dedicated to this at BlogHer last year. The blogosphere is all about niches and community-building after all, so seek like-minded bloggers and band together. Maybe you do this for personal satisfaction, maybe in hopes of creating the critical mass attractive to advertisers. Maybe both. Maybe neither! Maybe you start looking for kindred bloggy spirits just for the fun of seeing whether there even IS a tribe out there that would have you as a member.
I would like to announce publically that I am seeking a blogging tribe. I am as naked in my need to belong as Kevin Costner’s ass cheeks in Dances with Wolves. He found a tribe and he can’t even act, surely it’s not that hard.
Maybe I’m too schizophrenic. I kind of want to be all things to all people. This is a good skill to have in PR as you are constantly required to straddle the needs of clients, media influencers and parent company overlords. But maybe it’s not helping me in the blogosphere. I probably need to focus a little. And since I can’t expect my tribe – whoever and wherever they may be – to show up on my doorstep bearing flowers and vodka, I am going to be proactive. I am going to grease the skids, as they say.
I submit to you my Top Ten List of Blogging Tribes I Feel Qualified to Join to help you, the reader, better assess whether or not we are destined to be tribal soul mates. All you need do is see if you fit into any of these categories:
- PR people who secretly want to be full-time bloggers earning Dooce-like coin
- PR people who do way more than just plan events and do publicity (pffft)
- PR people who swear on their children’s lives that PR is totally not like “Kell on Earth”
- Moms still losing the baby weight (even though the baby is in elementary school)
- Moms of boys who (literally) climb walls (Audrey McClelland, that one’s for you)
- Moms who can recite entire episodes of “iCarly” word-for-word and think Spencer’s hot
- Moms referred to by their offspring as “Dude” or “Devil Woman”
- American women married to Russian men who argue regularly about parenting tactics
- Droid owners married to iPhone owners who argue daily about those Luke Wilson AT&T ads
- People who are on Facebook because they feel they have to but secretly wish they could shut the account down and just hang out on Twitter
Leave me a smoke signal in the comments if you want to be in one or more of my tribes. Or if you’d like to publically declare your own tribal aspirations.
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PR MAMA by Stephanie Smirnov 
Tribe 4. Where is our kiva?
Many of the same tribes, woman.
My favorite?
#10.
Many of the same, my friend! Can’t resist playing along though. My additional tribal aspirations?
PR people whose Google Reader runneth over
Gen X’ers who find it rather ironic that they are now the “adults”
Moms who have had ice cream for breakfast & champagne for dinner… because we’re the adults and we said so, that’s why.
Oh my goodness, Valerie. That champagne and ice cream tribe sounds AWESOME.
5,6 & 7 Here.
We need shirts.
OK, you can be Dude and I’ll be Devil Woman. Or would “Cougars for Spencer” be better? Unless you’re too young to be a cougar in which case I really apologize!
Stephanie, I’ve been trying to lose the baby weight for years. I really thought the combination of launching my video blog and a bit of vanity would prompt me to back away from the fridge a bit but all it really did was motivate me to find better camera angles to shoot my chubby face! As for Facebook, puh-lease don’t even get me started!!
This post totally waves the smart, witty, damaged-by-pop-culture super tricky smoke signal, Sister–you are already in that tribe. But you know, tribes are overrated…most I-tribes implode politically, are immune to outside disease, get that inbred-lovin feeling, and especially in bloglandia end up getting pegged as “cliques.” Better to keep your passport active, your pony well-fed and an extra ponytail holder on your wrist in case you bump into Kevin.
How do you follow Deb? Seriously.
I’m a wanna-be foodie-wanna be photographer-wanna be writer- wanna be me still trying to figure me out at 31 with two kids, a mortgage, a husband, PTA-coach-room mom-girl scout cookie selling, one kid climbing walls and the other dreaming of bras mom.
So, meet me somewhere and lets have a beer while we talk about the fact that we’ll hang with the tribes and beat our own drums..
or something..
see… following Deb.. grumble.. grumble…
Hey, no one puts Rachel in a corner. You followed Deb just fine. You are as awesomely schizophrenic as I am which is GREAT.
Oh…and what was that part about the bra and your kid? :0
I´m on #2 and 10. But something tells me I´ll relate to #7 in a few years.
I work w/ PR in Brazil and am also a blogger.
Love you blog & twitts.
I am in too many of your tribes to count (I am not a math person obviously!). Truth be told, you got me with Spencer from iCarly. So glad to know I am not alone!
1. Moms who would love to follow a publicist around for just one week
3. Mom bloggers who swear on their children’s lives that blogging is not for idiots.
4. Moms still losing the baby weight (even though the baby is about to start middle school)
5. Moms of boys who (literally) jump off the walls
6. Moms who know which Kratt brother has a better ass
7. Moms referred to by their offspring as Mommy-do
9. Moms who wanted a Droid AND an iPhone so they have them both.
10. People who took everyone off their Facebook page that hasn’t been in their living room.
Hey, wait. Where’s #8?
BTW, you have an open invitation to come follow us around here at the agency anytime. We’d set you loose on our clients and let you explain the value of Twitter parties to them (DOH!)
I will be in whatever tribe you are in, lol…is that stalker-y?
Hi, Bianca, I’m dying for stalkers. All the cool bloggers have them, you’d be my first. Squeee!
I’m with you on the Tribe thing… There are several that one might say that I would naturally fit into…. but I don’t.
I suppose my blog will have to remain as it has been; a loner, an outsider, marching in step with several tribes, but to the beat of the odd drum in my own head.
Your last comment about shutting down the facebook account and just hanging out on twitter had me rolling.