The Social Network

"We lived in farms, we lived in cities, now we're going to live on the Internet!" -Sean Parker

The Social Network was thought provoking and inspiring on a few different levels. One being the fact that at my age, Mark Zuckerberg had already become a billionaire with an invention used worldwide and had a movie made about him, while I sit here hanging out with friends and typing a blog about him for an undergrad class. Jesse Eisenberg, the actor playing Mark, was witty, sarcastic and entertaining and if his personality mirrors Mark in real life, it's no wonder he had so many conflicts on the way to the top. Mark Zuckerberg was quoted in an interview about the movie (which he doesn't endorse or put down) as saying "We build products that 500 million people see.. if 5 million people see a movie, it doesn't really matter that much." So, he's ridiculously arrogant but I guess that comes with the territory. I'm sure this movie will inspire great amounts of entrepreneurial spirit, but creating something with this draw and reach isn't something that happens often.

Facebook entirely changed the dynamics of how individuals communicate with each other. No longer do you have to call, text or email your friends individually, but as a mass news feed you can let anyone and everyone know what you are doing and with who at any given time. Though some may say this raises privacy issues, I think there are far less than the hype makes it seem. Anything on Facebook was put there by the individual. The author chooses to publish a status, pictures and information about themselves. No one forces anyone to participate (though it has become such an intricate part of everyones life, you'll end up missing out if not). What makes Facebook so dynamic is that it's not exclusive like it started out, but open for anyone to join.

I use Facebook for keeping up with my friends from home while at college, friends here and even my friends in other countries. I don't use email, phone or text as much as Facebook to communicate daily with the people in my life. However, I wish Facebook would step away from all the pointless games, advertisements and other junk and get back to it's fundamental user focused features. Like everyone else (whether they admit it or not) I use it for scoping out people to get a feel of who they are. Your Facebook is the narrative of your life simplified down to a few generic questions, some pictures and whatever input you choose to share. All anyone knows is what you present yourself as, fact or fiction. So, be careful because as his bitter (and fake, since he's had the same girlfriend since before he even created Facebook) ex-girlfriend would say - "The Internets not written in pencil, Mark. It's written in ink."

Parr, Ben. Mark Zuckerberg's Take on "The Social Network." http://mashable.com/2010/10/06/mark-zuckerbergs-take-on-the-social-network-interview/. 10/24/2010. Internet.