The Social Network

So, yesterday Matt, Hannah and I went to a Thanks Giving showing of The Social Network aka the Facebook movie. It was strange to watch a film about my contemporaries (albeit ones on the other side of the Atlantic) inventing this website, which was initially aimed at university students. I signed up for Facebook in 2005, in my fourth year of university. It was started in 2003 in my second year and therefore I, and most of my friends, contributed (albeit in a very, very small way) to the phenomenon. However, that is where any connections or comparisons end as it is a full-blown orgy of riches, blinding intelligence and merciless ambition, none of which I or my friends have (no offence intended to any of my friends who consider themselves to be blindingly intelligent).

Ultimately I think it is a great ‘story’, one that tells of social greed, jealousy and misogeny but it is just that, a story, a bald portrayal of what happened that may or may not be factually correct. If they had not played with the chronology you could argue that it would be dull, because over and above some students having a good idea, it wasn’t a particularly eventful film. Eduardo got scammed out of his shares, but then he got $65m in compensation, small fry compared to the estimated $25bn worth of Facebook. Eduardo came out looking like the good guy although one point to note is that Eduardo was the only person who cooperated with the making of the film. Coincidence?

The Social Network is fascinating purely for the reason that it happened under our watch – the meritocratic nature of the internet meant that a university student was able to make it BIG. Unfortuntely the fact that enough time has elapsed since the launch of Facebook to enable someone to make a film about it means that I, and all the other people who watched this film, were too slow off the mark. Damn it! In fact, this film is really just like Facebook, a tool with which certain people can show off about their lifestyle and it can be a mighty galling watch.