At the end of The Order of the Phoenix, Lord Voldemort, the arch-villain, possesses our young hero, Harry Potter, trying to destroy once and for all Harry’s mind and spirit. For awhile there, it doesn’t look too good. Harry sees that his powers make him kind of similar to Lord Voldemort. Harry has been feeling like he has been losing control over himself anyway. He feels weak.
But then, suddenly, something happens. With some prompting from the wise head of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, Harry remembers all of the people in his life who are always there by his side. They are always ready to defend him. He realizes that Lord Voldemort is truly the weak one. “I feel sorry for you,” Harry says. “You don’t know love or friendship.”
There’s more than one Lord Voldemort
In the Social Media world, there are a lot of Lord Voldemorts. There are all kinds of people out there who will try to tear you down, and they have all sorts of ways to do it. They can write a blog post saying how dumb you are. They can snark back to you in a comments section. They can flame your blog site. They can harass you on Twitter. Sometimes, people do this because they perceive that you’re a threat, just as Voldemort knows that Harry is a threat to him. Sometimes people are just mean-spirited. If your confidence is low, or if your own personal Lord Voldemort is a powerful person (however you define that), it can be pretty easy to believe what they are saying. “You’re right. I’m doing this all wrong. I stink. I smell of alder-berries.”
If you have a community, you can’t be taken down
Much like Harry realizes that he has a power Voldemort does not, you can come to the realization that you have a secret weapon too. That secret weapon is your community.
Now, I’m not saying that every time someone says something mean to you you go crying to your Twitter stream. However, if you build your community the way Harry built his – out of friendships, similar interests, common goals, and overlapping objectives – you soon find that insults hurled at you by people who don’t know you lose their potency. You have people who will pull you back if you start believing all of that nonsense. You have people who will cheer you up or who will tell you that you’re taking things too seriously.
Start building now
In my last post, I suggested ten ways that you can start carving out your own community. I really believe (although you can feel free to debate) that having a community you can depend on is the true difference maker in the Social Media world. There is so much competition. It’s so easy to misunderstand people. There is so much anxiety and bad feeling that leaks into peoples’ blogs and twitter streams. You need to have people around who have your back – and you need to return the favor. This is the weapon that will destroy your fear of Voldemort and change it into pity. Nothing makes him madder.
Whadya think, Mr. Potter?
Is community the game changer in this space? If not, what is? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
When I first started blogging the concept of blogging communities was a real eye opener, I didn’t even realise they existed. In the mummy blogging community, support of each other’s blogs is amazing and to be honest it makes me want to blog more. I want to be part of that community. It is so supportive of both your writing style and content. I don’t know if this is a mum’s together thing or true of all communities.
On the odd occasion that anyone gets nasty blog comments, the support is instant.
The mommy blogger community is definitely an extremely strong example of community, but communities do not have to revolve around a singular issue in order to be strong. People in my community include mommy bloggers like yourself, folks in sports, Real Estate, marketing, Social Media, and more. It’s about the sense of connection more than anything. And yep – it gets ya going 🙂
Community has been what’s held our frail existence together for eons. Since we lived in caves it has been the community that has fed us, clothed us and kept us safe. I do believe it is an MVP if not the overall game changer. Great post Margie.
Thank you, sir. I like that statement a lot!
Margie, I don’t know how you do it girl! You have once again managed to pick me up off the ground. The thing that is interesting to me is (and I’m new to this) that I can have the most difficult day where some sort of crap happens, and I can turn around to the (slowly growing) community I have online and find comfort. Find people just like me who have been just where I am, and can offer advise…comfort…FRIENDSHIP?!?! I used to poke fun at the statistics that said something like 60% of married couples met on line (perhaps an exaggeration) but now I realize…how could they not meet online? The turn-around on figuring out if someone is like-minded, friendly, intellectual, fun, and inspiring is so quick that you can truely see someones true colors without even meeting them! Kudos Al Gore…thank you for the internet 😉
Haha, well, I don’t know. I think you can learn a lot in real life, too. But yeah, I like to think of the internet as a place where brains shake hands. Kind of weird and creepy, but hey, it works for me.
Things’ll get better. Donchu worry 🙂
01/17/2011
Yes, the Community is a “Game Changer” – Look no further than the “Gloden Globe Awards”. Best movie award went to “Social Network” {recent history & a current, ongoing event} beating out “The King’s Speach” {70 yr old history}.
While watching “The King’s Speach” I wondered how history would have be changed had the King had an online social network in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
I can’t image would a “Hi Octane Wordsmith” like Churchill would have done with
an “online network”.
Cordially
Mike
I wonder about things like that a lot. What would the Founding Fathers have done with blogs? Hoo boy. Would have been interesting 🙂
Greetings, Fellow Harry Potter lovers! I also l0ve to illustrate points with scenes from the movies. In fact, I just used the scene from “Phoenix” where Harry has to learn to close off his mind from Voltemort, or lose first his sanity and then his life, to illustrate the need for self discipline in the “Health Goals for 2011” series.
Must agree a thousand percent about what you said about building community and people who will watch your back for you, and encourage you when you are facing your own personal Voltemorts. So far, (the blog is only three months old) I haven’t had any flamers yet, but I’m sure they’re coming.
There are a few fellow bloggers who seem to be becoming friends, but I decidedly feel the need for a much larger community, and as soon as I hit “Submit Comment,” I’m going to read your post on “10 ways to build your community.” btw, Chris at “Escape Velocity” has posted on this subject before (try “Gentle Marketing) so you might like to check him out also.
Thanks, Marly!
Yes, movies are great for illustrating points. As is music. As is, well, heck, I get my inspiration from all over the place! I have to come clean with you though, I’ve never read the Harry Potter books – just watched the movies 🙂
Your post sounds really interesting. Link?
Hi Margie,
I’ve just discovered your blog (thanks to Twitter), and I like what I see! I agree that community protects us from all kinds of negative things. That community can be online, in the real world, or a mixture of both. I’ve found a wonderful community of writers that I’m excited to become more involved with (www.shewrites.com). Writing can be a solitary activity, so it’s great to have support.
I have to comment on the Harry Potter books. I recommend that you find time to read them at some point. Yes, they are huge, but they actually move very quickly. There’s depth to the story and characters that could never fit into movies. And, each movie is only one interpretation of the corresponding book. I enjoy the movies, but I love the books (especially book 3 on).
I look forward to reading more of your posts!