There is something to be asked about people who are “odd” in the same way you are and if you are going to make an effort to be friends with them. There are 2 reasons these people could potentially be better friends.
1) Since they have a link that is “odd” they are more likely to have other interests that also over lap.
2) Since they share an intimate, very personal moment discussing a unique aspect of themselves, they are more likely to be friends because they have already broken down a barrier.
In my personal experiences, I would assume the second is a more likely answer. If you are at an event and you meet someone who shares a distinctive like, dislike or rarity with you, you feel compelled to share more about that experience. Perhaps this conversation is one of the few times you have ever felt truly comfortable that what you are sharing is not odd and that the listener truly understands your emotions. This exchange is something so deep, even if it is for the like of something trivial, it is still a very close connection that you perhaps have a strong personal value with. This is not a normal social interaction, it is rare and it usually invokes a feeling of excitement and passion.
“The net effect is that it’s easier to like people who are odd in the same ways you are odd, but it’s harder to find them.” Shirky, pg200
Shirky is talking about people sharing “odd” aspects of themselves as a way of forming new social groups. Truthfully, having an oddity in common is just a way of breaking down a social barrier. People don’t want to find other Xena lovers or Witches, they are just using these unique aspects of themselves to skip awkward introductions and know that they won’t be judged for what they like. They can then talk to someone openly, honestly as if they had been friends for years and years. They can be real and share personal stories all because they were able to be themselves during their first encounter discussing something that makes them “odd”.
It is a question to whether you could simulate this experience to allow people to interact with other people who they may not know more openly and remove the need to share something odd just to get past that barrier. Is there a situation or tool or product that could provide people this ice breaker?