i think merging is a bad idea... different people will be drawn to different tribes...based on the discussions posted... just because they are on the same subject does not mean the it will bare the same content... you could always create a thread alerting folks to another tribe that shares the same subject...i know i belong to a few that are all on the same subject and post in most of them.. if i am finding that i have little interest in a particular tribe... i will leave it

Conferences, where one could find related tribes could be an idea...

(Note: I rant her, but I have a great idea, I think, that's been brewing in my head for a while)

I am not a fan of webrings. I use in-page links and search results to find my interests in the Web, usually. When I use webrings, it seems to bring up a lot of dead pages, redundant material, and poorer sites than the one I found first. If those things could be addressed in a Tribering, I would be interested. Offhand, however, I think having a related tribes list would be better in general. Rings are effectively mandated reciprocity. Sounds great, but basically adds credibility to sub-par sites and takes from good ones. Besided, If I am moderating a tribe, it would be nicer to have individual control of what other Tribes are reccommended by that tribe. And recommended lists are highly usable.

Tribe.net has an opportunity, thanks to the development of it's social-networking software, to create something far better than a list of "cool links" or a web-ring". For a lack of terminology, I would call it an dynamic link system, And I don't think anybody but the Soci-Soft people would try it. Yet.

I imaging a web of tribes being similar to the users themselves, where each tribe has a recommended reading list, as well as a list of what tribes are recommending it. Unlike people profiles, I do not think it should be neccessarily mutual. Perhaps that's a flag you could set for a group. However if you do mutually recommend each other, it is signified in bold on the list, rather than taking two places.

All the other cool things you can do with people profiles could be done with tribecards, then. You could look at related tribes in degrees, mainly.

Thanks to the structure of Tribe.net, It would be easy to just let me visit a tribe from the directory/message/etc., and recommend it from a tribe I'm subscribed to in a few clicks, no typing. Voila. A graphicy, hyperlinked title and a description, with almost no labor on my part. And if it's lame, natch, it should be poster/moderator removable.

The nicest part is not having to deal with a next> last< format, and not having to go through crummy tribes to get to another good one. And the knowledge that somebody directly in that tribe vouches for the relevance of the link. And you don't have to recommend any tribe just because it is in the same ring as a tribe you think compliments your own.

I do not think a # of recommended tribes limit should be instituted unless it causes page loading issues, since some tribes are about other tribes and will get long lists. (
tribeoftribesabouttribes.tribe.net ) hehehe... I'm ready...

Please excuse my horrible spelling! I iam definitely interested in how to merge a tribe or tribes with each other.

This thread was started ages ago. But since it has come up again I'll add my two cents.

I don't like the idea of merging tribes. I belong to tribes that are similar to other tribes. I've chosen the ones I'm in carefully, by looking at the content, and the words written on the top of the tribe page, and sometimes by looking at the moderator. The subject matter may be nearly the same as another tribe, but the people who contribute in one tribe may give it an entirely different flavor than the other similar tribe.

I'd probably leave a tribe if it merged with another similar tribe that I didn't feel a kinship with.

I am in a couple tribes with no activity.
I miss th einteraction.

I see apossibility fo rmerger but wont move to suggest it. Truth is even if I did suggest it no one would read it. The tribes have served their purpose and for all purposes are dead.
I dont get how the business model is impacted if no one reads or posts.

personally I go to other tribes now

....I might run into two tribes with similar "interests"- but one's just funnier.....nuances really matter here.