Everyone belongs to a group one way or another. First of all, we have the human society, which is a huge group of people that consists of smaller groups of people. These groups share similar traits, such as communication rules, power structure, behavioral norms, etc.
Let us start with the basics. I, for example, belong to a group of young people – people who have not yet reached a certain age. This means I am automatically a member of a particular age group, and I cannot help it.
The next thing I can say about myself is that I am a college student. I go to college and mostly interact with people who go to the same college. Belonging to this group means that I have to perform certain rituals – attend classes, take exams, write papers, and so on. There is a certain mode of communication in this group as well. For example, college students are supposed to follow their teachers’ instructions and generally regard them as a mentor group. Some teachers do not agree with this norm and try to communicate with their students as if they were on the same level as them (i.e. in the same group). This fact does not mean that they stop belonging to a group of teachers, but, since they disregard the group rules, it makes their status of group members purely formal. I feel comfortable belonging in the group of college students as I understand what is expected of me, I maintain good relationships with my peers, and the teachers seem to like me. I wanted to become a college student, and I am one.
Now let us look at more complex types of groups. People can also be identified by the things they find interesting, like their hobbies. Take clubs, for example. A fan club is a group of people liking the same piece of art or the same artist. Clubs in schools are groups of students enjoying the same activities: science clubs, book clubs, swimming clubs. If you like making paper planes, you still belong to a group of people who like making paper planes, whether there is an official name for such social formation or not. As for me, I am what you may call a movie buff. I have become one because of my passion for cinema as an art form. I love watching movies, discussing them with my friends, even sometimes writing reviews of them. I might not be the most knowledgeable member of the group of cinema lovers, of course. There are times when I feel a little insecure about not knowing this movie, or not having seen that director’s filmography fully, but it gives me the motivation to find out more information and grow from a simple movie fan to an expert. Those of my friends who also love cinema are practically in the same group with me by definition. Like any other kind of group, we have our rules of communication and behavioral norms. For example, every one of us knows what “Rosebud” means and why we say this word in a dramatic whispery voice. Sometimes we have to explain the significance and the context of “Rosebud” to people who do not belong to our group because they simply do not know that this is a famous plot device from the movie Citizen Kane by Orson Welles.
These are three groups I belong to and three roles I play in them.