Essay 4: The Social Network Critique
The film that we watched in class is called The Social Network. Directed by David Fincher and released in 2010, it is an informative film which attempts to shed light on the real story behind the creation and rise of Facebook, starting from the beginning and revealing all the possibly hidden or not as well known facts behind it. Though some of the movie may be “Hollywoodized” and exaggerated for a dramatic depiction, with exceptional acting and a compelling story, it does a fantastic job of informing viewers all about Facebook while still engrossing them in the story and captivating their interest.
The movie opens up on a scene when Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is dumped by his girlfriend Erica Albright after an argument. From this moment, a long chain of events is set into motion that ultimately lead to the success of one of the most prominent and influential social media sites in internet and communication history. After Mark is dumped, he is humiliated and set on obtaining revenge. From his anger, he, along with his only real friend Eduardo Saverin, who is played by Andrew Garfield, work to create a website that will serve as payback for his girlfriend breaking up with him. Created on October 28, 2003, the site that they create is called Facemash, which is the very first version of Facebook. Originally made to be a site for comparing photos, the site used pictures stolen from the school database that were plugged into
The Social Network, which was release in late 2010, follows the story of the socially inept Harvard sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg, as he creates the most popular social media website of our time: Facebook. Using the deposition hearings of two law suits Zuckerberg found himself in during the mid-aughts, the movie paints him as a smug genius whose low social status compelled him to make a website that would finally make him socially accepted and more importantly, cool. While director, David Fincher; writer, Aaron Sorkin; as well an incredible performance of a talented cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Mara Rooney, deliver a believable (regardless of accuracy) and captivating story about the founder of Facebook, it’s the scene where Mark purposefully ignores a question from the opposing counsel during his deposition hearing that the audience fully understands the arrogance that Zuckerberg possesses.
The movie “Social Network” is about the ideas and the development behind the creation of the very popular social networking site “Facebook”. Mark Zuckerberg is the main character in the movie and also the actual creator of Facebook.
Facebook was launched on February 4, 2004 by nineteen year old named Mark Zuckerberg (Carlson). In 2010 it became one of the most popular websites in the world, visited by over 400 million people per month. The sudden popularity of Facebook was so extraordinary, that a movie called “The Social Network” came out telling the story of its development (The Social Network). This site created an innovative way for its users to exchange messages, post status updates, post photos, and join common interest groups. In addition to that users can like and comment on
Social Media began affecting our communication and relationships as early as 1969 when the first internet service provider become available to U.S. universities. In 2002, Friendster, the first social media website available to the U.S. was created and gained over 3 million members in just over 3 months. One year later, MySpace launched. In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, a 24-year-old Harvard student, created Facebook, an online social networking service. This service was originally a way for students to interact. Today it is the world’s largest social networking service and allows over a billion users to connect though posting photos, sharing links, and comments which all appear on a “News
The film takes place at Harvard where Mark goes to college, he is seen as a nerdy kid with not many friends. The opening scene plays a major role in the creation of his website. The breakup with his girlfriend leads to his creation of a website called facemash where people compare girls’ pictures. Eventually after getting more ideas from friends, like changing the name from TheFacebook to Facebook, and using parts of other students’ ideas, he slowly grew Facebook into what it is today. What began in his dorm room as a bunch of blogging and programming became global social network and one of the greatest modern innovations of communication.
It's convenient to share photos, videos and opinions with others, and it is free to
Facebook is the biggest social media network on the internet with a massive following which continues to expand. Mark Zuckerberg alongside his college roommates created and launched the world’s most popular social media site on 4 February, 2004. Zuckerberg previously developed other sites for fellow students to
The writer confirms that social networking is changing the world. Facebook was launched in 2004 and has rapidly gained popularity with more than 500 million global users. Facebook was
After watching the movie The Social Network, the first thing I did was to search for Mark Zuckerberg’s real life experiences to see which parts are facts and which are fictions. As a matter of fact, this Harvard genius that founded the world’s first social network was not as childish as the movie portrayed. At least he didn’t write programming for getting into elite Harvard “Final Clubs” or for retaliating his girlfriend. During Mark’s high school, Microsoft and AOL tried to purchase the music player that he built and also invited him to join them. However, Mark decided to enroll in Harvard for further education. From where I stand, although the movie is fictional, it can easily
Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941), is remembered as one of the greatest American films to be made. Its' revolutionary storyline and the new ideas that Welles introduces in the film sets it apart from others created at the time. The film depicts a young man, Charles Kane (Orson Welles), who grew up wealthy and who eventually owns a newspaper. Throughout the movie, as he gains wealth and power, he exhibits a distinct weakness that eventually leads to his downfall. While David Fincher's The Social Network (2010) isn’t as famous as Citizen Kane, it represents the same idea. In this film a young man, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) innovates a website that over the course of the movie gains popularity and support, this leads him to gain wealth and influence. Zuckerberg's ignorance and ill-mannered behavior have a significant impact on his downfall. Both of these movies portray the theme, pride goeth before a fall, and throughout the development of the theme of these particular films, both protagonists end up hurting numerous people because of their pride. Both these films represent and portray the theme in a similar fashion, although they also exhibit differences. The theme in Citizen Kane is represented as dramatic and grand. Whereas in The Social Network the theme is more subtle and modest. The cinematography of these films also contributes to the portrayal of the theme. Orson Welles, the director, and cinematographer of Citizen Kane. uses many extreme angels, proportions,
A social network, as defined by Oxford Dictionaries, is “A dedicated website or other application which enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments, messages, images, etc.”(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/social-network). Facebook is one of the largest social networks in the world, millions of users in Canada alone access Facebook daily. Many topics of discussion are addressed including matters of personal issues, work, relationships, and politics. As a result, Facebook has become a primary source for information;
I have chosen the issue of NEGATIVE societal impacts of social networking sites for my review of the three major sociological perspectives, namely structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. I am a Town Clerk for a small Town and I have recently been assigned the task of maintaining its Facebook Page, so the matter is of some importance to me.
The movie ‘The Social Network’ was released in October 2010 within the United States by Columbia Pictures. It was written by David Fincher and stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. The film is based on the social network ‘Facebook’ that has gained marked popularity since its creation in the early 2000’s and depicts the ongoing drama that ensued at the time. The movie has been found to be inspirational and informative as it attempts to depict the actual lives of the youngsters who faced lawsuits, betrayal, various challenges in adoption of ideas as well as new technological advances. To add on, they experience some emotional imbalances from the start where it begins with heartbreak, then betrayal where the computer genius, Mark, is said
The opening scenes of the film introduce Mark Zuckerberg, the most enigmatic character in the film who comes to symbolise the disconnection that society has come to associate with generation Y. The film opens with Mark Zuckerberg and girlfriend, Erica Albright, sitting in a bar. Quick, intense conversation introduce the
Facebook, a social networking website, has changed the way people communicate with each other. A social networking website is an online platform that allows users to create a public profile and interact with other users on the website. Facebook has even changed our most personal and private conversations and how they are conducted around the world. Since the internet’s birth in 1983, this trend of online communication has been growing. Created in 2004, now registered with more than one billion participants, Facebook’s user numbers surpass even the top four social networking websites combined. According to Wikipedia statistics, Instagram has 300 million registered users, LinkedIn has 200 million users, Classmates.com has 50 million users, and Flickr has 32 million registered users. To be further convinced of the claim that Facebook indeed changes the way we communicate, you would only need to create your own Facebook account and start participating in their social networking experience. Technology and internet usage is fused into every aspect of our society including the style of communication. The launch of Facebook in 2006 also enabled other devices such as touch phones, interactive tablets, and even advanced cars with their own networking capabilities starting in 2007. Facebook is a multibillion-dollar company and is highly recognized for connecting more people than other networks. Facebook’s long-term success can be attributed to providing entertainment, world news, and