Dynamics of the Expanding Wizard Clan. Wizards: The heart of an online community, Part 2

by John Suler, Ph.D.

(Page 25 of 53)

We Are Family

When Palace first opened in November of 1995, the wizard group consisted of a handful of people. Over the coming year, as the community grew larger, the size of wizard group had to be increased. It expanded to over 60 by the spring of 1997. As is true of any working group that increases in size, a whole new set of changes faced the wizards. Factions developed in their group. Some arguments ensued, which sometimes led to the resolution of important problems, and sometimes simply created hard feelings. Many of these changes were manifested in the mailing list. Debates and flaming became more frequent - which is a common developmental feature of any mailing list. Unlike other lists, however, the wizards don't simply use the list to shoot the breeze. It is a forum for WORKING together. The wizards have a job to do: To make Palace a better place. That common bond and necessity of performing a task together helps the group endure. When at their best, the wizards learn from the conflicts that surface.

Even without its rapid growth, the wizard group would have experienced similar trials and tribulations - similar cycles of misunderstandings, conflicts, and reconciliations. In other words, the wizards are a lot like a family. Many of them talk about the group as if it WERE a family.

To Bot or Not to Bot

Wizards experimented with automating their tasks in order to lighten their work with the growing community. An automated help center was created, as well as an automated tour of Palace. Wizards created scripts that could display pre-written signs containing instructions or warnings for members with questions or attitude problems. Some wizards tinkered with scripts that could kill upon detecting an obscene word, or that would nudge blockers off their victims. A bot was created that would sit at the Members site, wait for someone to page a wizard, and then report the page to the wizards at Mansion (where most of them hung out). Some of these changes were necessary and helpful. All of them placed automation in front of the user rather than personal contact with a wizard.*

To counteract the “institutional” feel that was evolving, efforts were also made to rekindle the personal touch. A technical support room, staffed by real-live wizards, was opened (for the first time in wizard history, work schedules were established to staff the room). A few dedicated wizards also took it upon themselves to personally nurture the newbies who popped up at the Gate at the Mansion and Welcome Palaces. TPI's recruitment incentive plan attempted to reinforce such efforts. Ideally, personal contact would recruit new members more effectively than automated information or simply letting newcomers wander around on their own. But there was a small price to pay for the new policy. While some wizards assisted and socialized with newbies simply because they wanted to, now there was a financial reward for doing so. In the eyes of some suspicious guests, a friendly wizard represented not simply a benign helper or a potential friend, but rather a business strategy.*

Wizard Colors

As the wizards grew in numbers, the group started to differentiate (mostly unofficially) into various wizard roles, levels, and types. Some of the categories that I list below overlap. Other categories may be considered different FACETS of a wizard personality. For example, some multi-talented people may combine the features of a “philosophical,” “technical” and “task” wizard.

NEWBIE WIZARDS - The new kids on the block. Newbie wizards usually act humble about their elevated station in Palace life. They routinely defer to and accept the guidance from the oldtimers. Perhaps overly eager about their newly acquired powers and the accompanying mission to clean up deviant behavior, a few newbies have been known to get a bit trigger-happy while patrolling the site. Oldtimers tried to reign them in. Activity on the wizard list usually intensifies immediately after the election of new wizards, probably due to the enthusiasm the newcomers bring to the list. It's hard to say how long a wizard retains the label “newbie.” It's a state of mind as much as anything else. I've seen wizards whom I considered experienced refer to themselves as newbies. At the very least, one is a newbie wizard until the next round of elections, which is every two or three months.

TRAINERS - Sometimes newbie wizards are assigned sponsors or trainers who show them the ropes. The “buddy system” is a well-known and effective strategy in group development. It offers the newbie a role model and the oldtimer a chance to bolster his or her knowledge, self-esteem, and commitment to the group.

OLDTIMERS - A handful of wizards have been onboard since the very early days of Palace. At the writing of this article, that means a little over a year - which is a fairly long time in the history of a cyberspace community. It's as long as these multimedia chat communities have existed. These oldtimers lived through the many trials, tribulations, and transformations involved in the early childhood development of the Palace software and community. That perspective gives them a definitive edge in understanding Palace. They seem to experience some ambivalence about the rapid growth of Palace. On the one had, they long for the simplicity and intimate atmosphere of the early, SMALL community. On the other hand, they are proud and excited about playing a role in the expansion of the Palace universe.

TECHNICAL WIZARDS - Some wizards are highly knowledgeable about Palace technology. They might have been chosen for wizardship because of their skills. Other wizards respect, admire, envy, or are in downright awe, of these skills. No doubt, their talent and the admiration they receive is a source of self-esteem for the technical wizard. They often are quite generous in sharing their knowledge. For example, they write and share scripts that help other wizards perform their day-to-day chores.

TASK WIZARDS - Some wizards are (using a social-psychological term) “task leaders.” They are skilled at organizing and facilitating other users in the accomplishment of a specific project or agenda. As in any group, such people often are identified by others as a clearly visible “leader.” People tend to rally around them. In the history of Palace, task leaders became especially important when large technical and/or social events were undertaken, such as the creation of new Palace sites or the highly publicized online concerts.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL WIZARDS - Some wizards are (again using a social-psychological term) “socio-emotional leaders.” They are skilled at handling the social and emotional dynamics of a group - for example, easing tension in the group, encouraging and supporting people, resolving conflicts and building trust among people. At the Palace, socio-emotional wizards are most noticeable in their skill at handling snerts by TALKING to them, rather than using a night stick. Some members stand out as potential wizard material because they are snert-savvy. Socio-emotional wizards will most likely be the ones who find themselves acting as helpers to the members and as counselors to troubled users. Unlike the task leader, socio-emotional leaders usually are NOT identified as group “leaders” even though their role in helping a group carry out it's task is just as important. The skills of a socio-emotional leader usually work subtly beneath the surface of group activity. Only rarely can one person act as both task and socio-emotional leader, since these roles often conflict (i.e., the boss can't always be “nice”). Socio-emotional wizards tend not to dwell on the “policing” functions and do not like to emphasize this aspect of wizard responsibilities.

PHILOSOPHICAL WIZARDS - These are the intellectuals of the group who like abstract discussions about Palace, such as it's purpose as a virtual community, or what constitutes “anonymity” and “deviance.”

HIRED WIZARDS - Most wizards are volunteers. Some have been paid employees of the company. With a very few exceptions, most TPI-employed wizards were not hired from the wizard ranks. They were original members of the Palace team at Time-Warner or were later hired by TPI (when it incorporated) and given the wizard password. In many important respects, the TPI/EC officials are the innermost circle of the Palace world. That's where the most important decisions about Palace software - and by consequence, the Palace community - are made. To rise within the ranks from Palace member to Hired Wizard is the ultimate achievement for those ambitious users who have their eye on upwardly mobility in the social hierarchy. Because one has attained a “higher” status, the “promotion” might result in respect, admiration, envy, or alienation from the other wizards. Wizards hired from within the ranks are given specific responsibilities above and beyond those of the volunteer wizard - for example, doing tech support work or managing special events.

THE WIZARD “MANAGER” - In the Fall of 1996 the wizard clan decided to elect a “chairperson.” Ph's horse - a widely respected and liked oldtimer - was selected for the job, although he thinks the term “wizard manager” might be more accurate. His original mission was twofold. Because the wizard clan had grown to over 50, the group discussions and decision-making on the mailing list had became more complex - and at times chaotic and hostile. As the list facilitator (some might say “mother”), Ph helped organize and temper the list activities. He also acted as liaison between the wizards and the TPI officials. With their hands full trying to run the business end of Palace, the TPI folks (especially the highly respected Jim Bumgardner) had become less active on the mailing list, leaving the wizards wondering whether they were abandoned and home alone without the feedback and guidance they were used to. The TPI officials needed someone to keep them informed of the wizard activity and to keep the wizards informed of TPI activity. Over time, Ph's role shifted in emphasis. “True, I was originally portrayed as a sort of chairperson by Jim,” Ph stated after reading this section of this article, “but 'officially', I have become more involved with TPI's interests and making sure the Wizard group is tuned to that.” Despite being the “alpha male” (as one wizard described him), Ph's leadership style usually leans in the democratic, laissez-faire direction - a style similar to that of Bumgardner, the alpha male of the Palace universe and prior leader of the list. As the wizard group and the community get larger, more complex, and sometimes more chaotic, Ph's style may become more authoritative.

HONORARY WIZARDS - Members invited to become wizards usually have been spending a great deal time at the Palace. Once elected, they are expected to maintain their attendance and help out. An exception to this rule are Honorary Wizards. They are invited to the group out of respect for their accomplishments and/or for some contribution they can make to the wizard group (other than working the sites). A good example is Randy Farmer, one of the pioneers of graphical chat environments. AsKi (me) is also an Honorary Wizard.

WELCOME WIZARDS - In the Winter of 1997, TPI encouraged the selection of wizards to work specifically at the Welcome site. Because newbies signing on for the first time defaulted to this site, TPI wanted to insure that there were enough wizards to help them, recruit them, and control any offensive snerts whose behavior might drive people away from registering. To encourage the Welcome wizards to remain at Welcome (rather than move to Mansion where most wizards hang out), they were given the wizard password only for that site. On the wizard list, debates arose as to whether the Welcome wizards might feel one-down since they could not wiz at Mansion, and whether different “classes” of wizards were evolving. In the past, the wizards tended to be critical of anything that might lead to a class distinction. Shortly after the Welcome wizards came onboard, they were given the password to Mansion and welcomed as “regular” TPI wizards, like all the rest.

WIZARD HELPERS - At Welcome, some members are selected as “Helpers” who assisted wizards in greeting, educating, and recruiting new arrivals. These Helpers, as well as members of the Magus, fall somewhere between members and wizards in the social hierarchy. It wouldn't be surprising if Helpers had their eye on an eventual promotion to wizardship. They probably will be considered as candidates. As the Tao Te Ching states, the one becomes two and the two becomes the many. As soon as a social dichotomy appears in a community, it inevitably leads to further differentiations.

FADING AND DROPOUT WIZARDS - Some wizards become less active at the Palace or disappear completely. They may have grown tired of Palacing, or just of TPI/EC sites. So they move on to other Palace sites, or other cyberspace worlds, or “real” world challenges. They may be disillusioned by the politics and interpersonal conflicts. Some might have had their feelings hurt. Some simply need a temporary break from their “addiction” - which tends to be intensified as a result of becoming a wizard. A universal rule might be that dropouts are not getting what they want or thought they wanted from Palace, whatever that need might be. So they move on. On occasion, active wizards discuss what to do about their fading and dropout comrades. Should they be enticed back? Is it important to find out why they are withdrawing from Palace? (a question that might raise some insecurities and self-doubts in the active wizard's mind) Because it's the wizard' s job to supervise the community, and these dropouts are not pulling their weight, should they be expelled? This hasn't happened yet. The door is left open. You don't eject family. There seems to be an implicit rule that “once a wizard, always a wizard.”

Don't Fence Us In

As the community grows, there has been a force among the wizards that resists the inevitable movement towards social differentiation and legislation. Traditionally, the wizard group has been very free-form. They didn't like the idea of class distinctions. They didn't like too many rules or regulations. They didn't particularly like the idea of having “leaders” and probably only accepted TPI officials as authority figures because TPI had been very anti-autocratic and respectful of wizard self-regulation. These egalitarian and independent-minded attitudes are inherent in basic internet ideology as well in the original Palace philosophy.

The self-regulatory and free-form quality of the wizard group is both its strength and weakness. It makes the group flexible and adaptable. It gives the wizards a feeling of ownership for their group. The big question is whether these qualities can adapt to the strains of an expanding, increasingly more complex community. For a large and integrated community to survive, rules, regulations, class distinctions, and hierarchies of authority may be both unavoidable and necessary.

About the Author

John Suler, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at Rider University. This article comes from his online hypertext book The Psychology of Cyberspace which describes his ongoing research on how individuals and groups behave in cyberspace. His work has been reported by national and international media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, and CNN. www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/