Massive, global, instant, facebook represents key features of the internet. Every status posted is sent all across the globe to every friend of the user or members of a group and social networks are directly controlled by actions on facebook. In the business world people can lose jobs via facebook. A single indecent picture or hateful status can be enough for a boss to fire an employee. Socially, people can start or destroy their relationships with their friends, family and romantic interests: a suspicious comment on another person’s wall can lead to cheating suspicious, commenting behind someone’s back, or messaging someone new can all lead to dramatic changes in someone’s life.
In the movie “The Social Network” [1] the creation of facebook and a short biography of those involved is illustrated. Just like how a single status on facebook can change a person’s future, single actions completely changed the future of facebook. This is something the film did very well. It showed the human side of the creators of facebook and showed the little events that determined its future. For example, Zuckleberg’s breakup with his girlfriend shown in the beginning of the movie led to his dramatic introduction to the cyber elite of his school as well as to the audience. From that moment it was known to everyone that Zuckleberg’s defining characteristic was being bold. Somehow it made sense that facebook, one of the easiest ways to start drama today, would have a large amount of drama surrounding its creation.
The only thing lacking in the movie was coherency. The movie jumped back and forth between the creation of facebook, and the lawsuits against Zuckleberg. When first viewing the movie it isn’t apparent what is going on until half way through. The beginning then becomes simply confusing and information is lost in this chaos as people are less able to focus on the minute interesting events because they must focus on understanding what is happening. Maybe this was some kind of analogy to facebook, like how we must navigate different people’s walls, and go back and forth between many pages to understand what’s happening, or simply a way to keep people interested in the somewhat long movie. Upon second viewing this isn’t an issue but many people may not watch this movie twice and could miss subtle issues like how Eduardo’s betrayal could have been because of his joining into the final club, Phoenix.
Overall the movie was wonderful. It showed how the history of facebook, an intense social instrument in today’s society, has a deservingly intense history. The human side of it all was also demonstrated well showing that behind this behemoth of a website, lies a small group of regular, although gifted and fortunate people. Although confusing during the first viewing, this movie is worth watching for anyone, even if they don’t even know what facebook is, just to see how ambition can become reality.
[1] The Social Network. Directed by David Fincher. Columbia Pictures, 2010. Film.
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