I've just finished watching the movie "The Social Network" - here some thoughts, please contribute and comment!
As of today, 5 November 2010, 1’459’319 million people like Mark Zuckerberg. After seeing the movie The Social Network, do I like him or not? I’m not sure, and does it really matter, since the movie is an unauthorized rip of the real Mark, of whom we know so little actually. The genius brain behind the biggest website, with over 500 million users, generating more than 26 billion turn over annually, might well be the most anonymous Facebook user on the grid. The movie certainly brings to the fore that he doesn’t need to be liked himself, guessing from the snide remarks, arrogant but witty communication and constant focus on self.
Well, except for Erica Albright, his former college sweetheart, who – so the movie tells us – triggered the idea in Mark’s head to create a social network that offers a parallel virtual life to the real college life at Harvard University. Upset by having been broken up with, he posts demeaning comments about her in his blog, and starts Facematch, a site that manages to crash the university’s server within a few hours. Facematch is a site that invites users to rate college girls like farm animals at an auction. And in my opinion, this was only one of many instances in the movie that portrayed women in a very bad light. They were objectified as sex symbols, unable to understand the world of business and the internet, but without them Facebook would never be where it is today.
And where is Facebook at today? It’s certainly outgrown its college past, and has become an indispensable tool for millions of businesses around the world, and also helps in making millions aware of social and environmental injustices and issues, in real time. At the end of the day, the monumental growth of Facebook shows us that we all just want to be liked. If we can’t succeed in that in our “real lives”, then Facebook even helps us create a better self, with polished profile pictures and interests chosen according to coolness factor. And that is just what it’s about. The coolness factor. Or how many of you have looked up co-founder Eduardo Saverin on Facebook? He only has 28’000 friends (well, compared to Mark, that’s not that many). But if you believe the characterizations in the movie, he’s probably more of a friend to his friends than Mark Zuckerberg, who wouldn’t even buy chicken feed. Pun intended. Watch the movie.
So the movie brings up discussions around our social value, our being liked, and our need to collect friends like guitar picks. Focusing on the bigger picture, I think the movie inspires us to be creative and entrepreneurial – and not to wait for the big capital injection. Relatively young companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Google (and Facebook) are huge drivers in our economy and each rank in the top 10 of all public companies in terms of market value. Remarkably, none of these companies even existed 30 years ago.
