The Social Network

The Social Network was a very pleasant surprise, as I was not initially expecting it to be as good as it was when I saw it. It depicts Mark Zuckerberg's experience as he created possibly the largest and most popular social networking site to date. The style in which the story was filmed was very interesting, with several lawsuits against Mark taking place for the duration of the movie, with intermittent flashbacks to the story as it is being told in the courtroom.

I feel that the film is very successful because it tells the story of a website that is so heavily used and that is so pertinent in our society today, and everyone can relate to it. It is also pretty amazing to see how the simple idea of a Harvard social website for students turned into a phenomenon that no one could have predicted the success of. Facebook has become a household name, spanning across today's generations and social standing (celebrities using the site, children and parents both having a Facebook page, etc), and by keeping the website simple and fairly easy to use, it is able to be used by a variety of people, businesses, and causes. Many businesses, whether local or commercial, have a Facebook page to reach out to fans. Films, TV shows, and other organizations and institutions also have Facebook pages that help bring in support. Facebook links different countries together, and as I have experienced firsthand, makes it very easy for long distance friends and family to keep in touch.

Facebook also provides us with information about our acquaintances and peers. Think- how many things have you learned about someone else (whether they be positive or negative), that you learned from reading or seeing it on someone's Facebook page? It allows us to be curious and nosy with no consequences, and many topics of conversation arise from happenings on Facebook (i.e; "did you see who she's together with now?", "so-and-so has two kids now?", "I saw on Facebook that he lost his job!", etc etc). As we saw in the film, when Mark added the "in a relationship" status on Facebook, features like that are what help to make the site so successful.

Facebook has totally revolutionized the internet and social networking institutions, and Aaron Sorkin's film The Social Network tries to give us insight as to how this phenomenon began. No one can predict where the future will take Facebook, and as the film shows, the website has come further than anyone ever imagined it could.