Someone once asked me if I thought that Inigo Montoya was representative of a character that grew over time and if I thought he was fulfilled because he found the six fingered man.
To be honest I haven’t ever figured out if they were serious or if they were just pulling my leg. What I am certain of is that The Princess Bride is among those cult classics that communities form around.
It is not the same sort of hardcore of fan that you might find around Star Trek or the Lord of the Rings. You won’t hear the same sort of heated discussions that surround who was the better captain Kirk or Picard. Nor will you encounter the sort of rabid fan who builds a home in the side of a hill so that they can pretend to be a hobbit living in the Shire.
But you will find tons of people who take great joy in exchanging movie quotes. If you tweet “No more rhymes and I mean it” you can almost guarantee that someone will tweet back “Anybody want a peanut?”
So How Does That Help Build Community?
The answer is that part of your goal in trying to build a community is to find like minded individuals.
Every time someone says “No more rhymes and I mean it” you know that they have extended their hand out and are waiting for you to shake it and say hi.
Social media is all about people. It is about building connections and communities between you and others. It is about developing relationships between folks who otherwise never would have met.
When we let our friend Inigo run through here searching for the six fingered man it helps us build connections between each other. It helps provide bridges of communication that we use to learn about who we are and what we share in common.
It stands to reason that if we both like The Princess Bride there are probably other movies that we will both find entertaining.
Movies & Music
Movies and music are good because they are non threatening. You don’t run into some of the challenges that are sometimes presented by talking about politics or religion. They are bastions of love and laughter.
Movies and music set a tone that makes it warm and inviting for people to comment and interact with others. That is a big part of the kind of foundation that every community wants to have.
What do you think? What sort of elements do you look for in a community?
