How is Tron Legacy like good social media?

Yes I know the movie has been out for a while. I’ve been busy!

I was actually watching some of the DVD extras and found out that Joseph Kosinki, the director of Tron Legacy was an architect. My bachelors degree is in architecture and I understand that mindset. The job of an architect is to create the potential for relationships to occur. They create spaces, lighting and texture that encourage individuals to interact with the space (internal/external) and each other. This is what an architect is supposed to do. And this is what the director of Tron Legacy did. He created amazing buildings and machines for the characters to interact with.

This is also what good social media does. It gives users a great set of tools that enables them to interact with each other. Photo tagging, commenting, sharing, etc are equivalent to great pieces of architecture. Owners of the network really don’t own community, they own the platform. They own the structure but the interaction belongs to those that inhabit the network. The best example I can think of is the Digg Uprising.

As for the movie, there should have been more interaction between individuals to develop character depth and that’s why the movie suffered. Visually stunning. Shallow characters. (Wait! That sounds like MySpace! Visually stunning. Shallow characters!) In the end, what’s good for a movie isn’t good for social media. A movie is supposed to tell you a complete story and may leave you guessing in the end. Good social media lets you tell your own story. The toolset is the most important piece.

I still like the movie. I’m a sucker for amazing visuals and they’re making a third installment!