When we first posted about Tribe Wanted, there was some schadenfreude speculation that the online creation of a “tribe” and the subsequent lease of a South Pacific island where members could live out their tribal aspirations, would eventually disrupt into some type of Lord of the Flies anarchy in which Piggy’s skull is crushed and modern man once again proves that evil is inherent.
Well, the island is up and running and so far the death toll is non-existent.
James Vlahos was amongst the first of 920 members to arrive on the island and has penned the most in-depth report I’ve seen on the development of the island. And development it is. As a “pioneering colonist” Vlahos and his other tribe members were charged with actually building an eco-friendly resort and facilities from scratch while also maintaining a cohesive tribal unit comprised of random members from around the world who signed up online and didn’t know each other until they arrived on the island.
So far the utopian experiment has gone rather well according to Vlahos. Sure, there are some personality clashes on the island, but that’s inevitable. Otherwise, there has been no Lord of the Flies scenarios except for one exception: a major brush fire which caused a schism in the group when half chose to evacuate on a boat while the other half stayed behind to fight the fire.
Things are moving along, but I still don’t think I’ll be signing up any time soon.
For those of you interested in joining the club, you can do so on their website here. In the meantime, here is a selection of photos from Vlahos’s National Geographic Adventure article.