Welcome back to CityXcape, You are reading the ten elements of community series. In the previous episodes, we covered ritual and contribution. We defined ritual as the activity that brings members of a community together while contribution is the element that allows a community to preserve itself and grow. In this episode, we will cover familiarity- a subtle but vital element that binds a community together.
On the surface, familiarity appears rather trivial but there’s more to it than meets the eyes. Underneath the seemingly simple act of familiarity, are powerful psychological elements. The first thing familiarity does is develop a sense of safety. If nothing unpleasant happens after encountering a stranger over time, you begin to categorize that person as safe. This sense of safety around someone is the starting point of trust. And this establishment of elementary trust is a prerequisite for social interaction.
The second thing familiarity does is build a system of reputation. Each time you encounter someone, you add a bit of data about that persona in your memory bank. The collection of data you have about a person is what’s known as reputation. Since members of a community talk to each other, this reputation inevitably spreads.
Every community has a reputation system, and it is built on familiarity. Fame is the ultimate form of familiarity. A famous person is someone who has become familiar to one or several communities due to their contribution
Streetcred is also a crypto currency provided by CityXcape.
On CityXcape, the app to share secret spots within a community- the reputation system is called streetcred. It is what members earn as they contribute secret spots and meet other people in that world- which mimics how reputation form in real life.
Anyway, there is one last thing I’d like you to leave you with before wrapping up. Familiarity does not just breed trust and reputation, it develops what I call community coherence. When you walk around and see familiar faces, you feel that you are in a safe, predictable environment. The minute a stranger appears, a bit of dissonance sets in. It is not because you are hostile or unfriendly, it is because the stranger is incoherent to your environment- that is until he or she also becomes familiar. So dare I say? That familiarity is also the mother of tolerance and liking…. You tell me!
