tetracity.net
Tetra [City]
Tetra [City] (e.g. Tetra Seattle) is an organizational pattern for bringing online connections down to Earth as in-person local scenes and communities.
The topology of the internet is very different than the topology of the physical world. This is a good thing! The topology of the internet can make it easier to find people you vibe with. The problem is it’s not always easy to map those resonant relationships from online space to offline space.
A Tetra is a declared group identity for an online social cluster + a specific city or town so that the people in the Tetra can have greater continuity between online and offline connection.
Anyone can start a Tetra. All you have to do is declare that you’re starting a Tetra (“Tetra [your city/town]” is a good default name) and then start doing stuff under that banner. Boom! Your online friends who are in your city/town are now your offline friends as well, and you now have a platform for coordinating in-person events, finding project collaborators, potential roommates, potential partners, etc.
The default boundaries of the Tetra are determined by the connections between its members, just like any ordinary social network. Additional inclusion criteria may also be helpful, criteria such as receiving an invite from a founding crew member or attending some minimum number of in-person events. A basic filter can go a long way towards maintaining the vibe of the group. Vibe stewardship is critical for the long-term sustainability of your Tetra.
The concept of a Tetra was originally inspired by the concept of a neighborhood campus trailblazed by Fractal NYC. Tetra also draws inspiration from practices like Microsolidarity and events like Vibecamp that bring online connections into offline physical space.
Current Tetras
What does “Tetra” mean?
1. Greater than the sum of its parts
Tetra is Greek for the number four. The number four represents the middle triangle that emerges when you arrange three triangles to form a larger triangle. That middle triangle made from empty space is what makes the larger triangle greater than the sum of its parts. When you apply this architecture recursively, you get the famous Sierpinski triangle, which is the design that the Tetra logo generator outputs.
2. Expanded vision
Tetrachromacy is a genetic condition in which individuals have four types of cone cells in their eyes, rather than the typical three. People with tetrachromacy can see a much wider range of colors than the typical person. People with tetrachromacy see things that other people don’t see. The idea of Tetra [City] is part of a greater vision of what’s possible on Spaceship Earth. Not everyone has this vision yet, but those of us who do can clearly see the vision spreading.
3. Unblocking
The game of Tetris is a helpful metaphor for understanding the challenge of bringing online connections down to Earth in a specific geographic location. You must figure out how to deal with physical constraints that are not present online. But if you succeed, then your scene and community become unblocked and capable of supporting everyone.
4. Spontaneously synchronizing
Tetra fish are a type of schooling fish that synchronize their movements spontaneously, similar to other animal species like birds that move as flocks. In the context of Tetra [City], we synchronize spontaneously through “yes, and”-ing each other’s ideas and contributions. Improv is the basic organizing principle.
About this website
This website is created and maintained by Dan Allison of Tetra Seattle. You can reach Dan by email at dan.allison@protonmail.com or on twitter @danallison.
Send Dan an email if you’d like to add a link to your city’s Tetra on this website.