Group dynamics

[vagrantomission]

So I was talking to Stef about group dynamics, and I stated that I tend to avoid them for the most part, and that they're mostly useless. And before I got to explain her computer died, so I'm posting those thoughts here.

So let's say there is a person, let's refer to them by M, and there are two Groups with no overlapping circles, 1 and 2
Group 1 has

Comments

[pinkphooka]

Okay, I see your point. I also borrowed a charger for my mac temporarily from a friend.

The problem is initiating those individual interactions. The group pattern began to set into place very quickly. However, since the group has expanded quite a bit with the rest of the first years moving into town, it might be easier to pull a few of them off for individual dynamics. I can think of four people I could pull aside for individual interaction, and I have that individual interaction with one of them already. But the group is about 10 people, give or take a couple. And this is the core group. It easily expands to 15 or more. Last night we had 19 of us tromping around the city as a whole pack. There's no possible way to pull most of these people aside for individual interactions. We hang out as a massive group on a regular basis far more than anyone interacting on an individual basis with anyone else.

For this reason I find group dynamics to be an interesting puzzle to solve just because there is so many of us in this core group, with heavily overlapping inner circles but no one circle taking the center stage. And I find that the vast majority of these people seem to exist primarily in groups, and have created a drama-free equilibrium. While some drama may occur from a couple folks on the outskirts of the group, it's easy to predict that they would be pushed out from the main group just because they're not a central part of the group to begin with. After all, Andy did shut me down in a relatively subtle manner to preserve the equilibrium in the group. They seem to be very experienced as a whole with preserving the dynamic.

Although there are a couple of single girls hanging out with single guys, there isn't any flirting or hint of chemistry. Except for what I have on the side, (which means I may be the cause of a rift in this dynamic and ultimately get myself pushed out if I let it continue) so far everything seems to be very balanced and relaxed. Everyone gets along with everyone else. I really do think that if any drama occurs, I will likely be a source of it, so perhaps it would be better for me to reside on the outskirts of this group, as much as I don't want to.

[vagrantomission]

The bigger a group is the easier it is to isolate people. However groups within groups, you're kind of double fucked. 19 people is not a group, it's a mobile party, switch to party handling dynamics.

Also being on the fringes of a group ALSO makes it easier to isolate members in a group. Being "in" the group kind of requires you to follow the groups flow and rules, being on the fringe is like a "friends with benefits" situation where you aren't an ACTUAL part of the group, but get invited to things and can still enjoy the benefits of some of the group dynamics, just be less committed to any individual group.