#The Social Network (on Starbucks Wifi)

The Social Network, directed by David Fincher, brings a cinematic adaptation to underground coder, Mark Zuckerberg. The film follows Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Zuckerberg, meticulous at his craft for a new concept of online networking that we know now today as, Facebook.

Fincher's depiction explores the corruption that unfolds in characters such as, Edwardo Saverin played by Andrew Garfield, as the Facebook empire continues to expand. Friendships, relationships, and partnerships were brutally sacrificed and tarnished to achieve the desired success for the dream. This theme was also seen through Steve Jobs’ story. Although I can appreciate Fincher's direction and the performances given by the actors, the underlying messages in The Social Network; dreams at the cost of relationships, is conflicting to me. Personally, I prioritise support systems as they keep me grounded in times of stress. I wanted to find out Mark Zuckerberg's response to the film so I did a little research. The Facebook creator was hurt by the remarks made in this adaptation explaining, “I think the reality is that writing code and then building a product and building a company is not a glamorous enough thing to make a movie about, so you can imagine that a lot of this stuff they had to embellish or make up,” clarifying that some parts were fiction to satisfy audiences," Zuckerberg, 2011.

The truth is, Zuckerberg's work contributed greatly to society, giving us an entire web of innovative software, tools, and applications that would signify a major peak in the technology shift. The social media frenzy expanded from a pea size idea to an exponential platform that would revolutionise business, technology, media, communication and also decrease the rapid unemployment rate. Facebook has created 4.5 billion new jobs, such as app developers and virtual reality engineers. This gave people opportunities that were not available to them before, further diversifying the talents and intelligence in workplaces.

“My goal was never to make Facebook cool. I’m not a cool person, and I’ve never really tried to be cool. Our goal isn’t necessarily to make it particularly exciting to use; we want to make it useful.” - Mark Zuckerberg, 2011

The marketing industry would also transition with this culture change, as more and more traffic flooded onto Instagram, You Tube, Twitter, Snapchat, and Spotify, following ads to capture attention.This appealed to entrepreneurs as social media marketing is free. The days of paying for space in newspapers are now outdated. It is absolutely necessary today for an operating business owner, global or small, to be online and connected to various different platforms in order to scale growth and exploit new markets.

From the market to the user, Facebook opens a realm of opportunity in all areas of the social world. I became a member of the Facebook community in 2011, it's purpose for me back then was to share pictures and statuses online and talk to my friends and family. Now, I plan to start working for myself using a Facebook business page.

How has Facebook helped or hindered you? Leave me a comment of your thoughts on Facebook and how you use it today!