Dissecting the Hive Mentality on the Internet

“GAMERS!”

Above is how “the bois” often start the conversation in our Discord chat.

The funny part about that is that I don’t even play games (because unfortunately - don’t come at me please - I own a Macbook).

For some reason, however, I am still a part of every game night ever, sitting there, either browsing through social media or catching up with my work while watching the game streams from my friends.

It feels like movie night almost, but more chaotic.

“Dude, I’m trying to write this article and I think I’m hitting writer’s block..”

“Huh…okay, is there a specific theme you have to follow or something?”

“Not entirely…I mean, anything? I kinda did a blog about Tarot reading on TikTok for my first article ><”

***(a moment of dead silence followed by the sound of my friend farming in Terraria) ***

*smack mouse*

“HIVE MIND!”

Please don’t tell me he just made a Bee Movie reference.

And no, he was not talking about the Calamity mod Boss Rush in Terraria (why do I even know this???)

What Does “Hive Mind” refer to?

At first, you might think it’s some kind of telepathic superpower coming straight from Marvel comics.

In fact, when you google “Hive mind”, the photos that are shown are mostly creepy children speaking in unity or aliens or anything supernatural-related.

However, the term “Hive mind” is more mundane than you think.

Apart from being the ability to coordinate complex behaviour seen from colonies of bees or ants; hive mind, according to the prestigious Cambridge dictionary, is a collective thought and/or opinion of a large number of people, often in a group.

This is better exemplified by internet users (yes, you guys) in general and social media users in particular. Thus, hive mind can be found everywhere on the internet; scaling from large online groups to smaller communities under the comment section of a post or a tweet.

“So basically, if you have a crowd and a common interest topic, there’s a hive mind?”

“More or less yea…”

“What do you mean more or less?”

There are.. Let’s say, pros and cons of having a hive mentality

A hive mentality is developed from the concept of hive mind which shifts towards a more individual viewpoint.

Another word for “hive mind” is “group mind”, when you have a hive mentality, you are essentially participating in some kind of groupthink.

This is kind of interesting as most of the activities we engage in today involve a certain extent of group work.

“Sir please elaborate…”

“I mean, you see, say, when you comment on a social media post, there are many people there right?”

“And there are many similarities as well as different opinions compared to what you just wrote.”

“Yep. And of course, because you are on the internet, people are either going to agree with you or they are going to spit their disagreement on your face”

“Harsh…”

“Trust me man I know. But come to think about it, it’s like brainstorming when working in a team…”

But what do we get from thinking in a hive mind with a hive mentality?

Connections… and reassurance.

Weird but yes, at least this time you don’t have to turn to random Tarot spreads on TikTok anymore.

We undoubtedly put ourselves in an exposed and vulnerable position when expressing our opinions online, getting support and agreements from “hive minds” can be a tremendous boost of morality.

Similar to making a group decision, when one’s opinion is recognized in a hive mind collective, they are likely to feel more accepted, and maybe they’ll find more insights and a deeper understanding of the discussed topic.

However, there’s a catch

“Jesus, there’s always a catch.”

“Yea, what do you expect?”

“Okay okay,  what’s the catch then?”

Lack of personal judgment and potential bias.

This might seem like a paradox when one of the pros of the hive mind lies in the connections created through having the same point of view in a certain matter.

However, when engaging in a group decision one might find it hard to raise individual opinion. This happens because “teamwork mentality” is often placed higher and prioritized. In addition to that, personal statements in a hive mind can easily be clouded by group decisions.

On top of that, as connections are made between people in a hive mind, it also implants a fear of being kicked out if one person goes against the group, further pushing the line of bias and lack of personal judgment.

So is there a way to avoid the negativity of a hive mentality?

Gather around you guys, we are all on the internet here so I’m going to be blunt.

BE SMARTER

Try to avoid controversial topics if you can.

Ask more questions of whether what people are talking about is right or wrong. And remember, look into multiple perspectives.