Mark Z.’s Social Network (or lack thereof)

Posted by: jolynfoo on: October 2, 2010

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          The Social Network is a movie that on first impression probably doesn’t sound too exciting. It is about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the beginnings of the social networking website. I first thought it was going to be a documentary chronicling the advent of Facebook and its exponential growth or something along those lines until I read more about it in Time magazine and Wikipedia. While the movie is obviously about Facebook and how it started, it focuses on Zuckerberg, especially his failed relationships with various parties, including a girlfriend, a business partner, and school mates. In fact, after watching the movie (or maybe just reading about it), you would think of Zuckerberg as one who has failed terribly in communication.

         Zuckerberg was an awkward loner in Harvard College whose relationships with his fellow peers were not just unsuccessful, but downright awful. For example, the movie begins with his break up with girlfriend Erica, who dumps him after stating that being with him was akin to being with a Stairmaster. While the earlier stages of Knapp Model of Relational Development weren’t portrayed in the movie, we can safely state that the couple is at the coming apart phase and to be precise, stage 10, Terminating.

          We can also examine the relationship between Zuckerberg and his best friend, Eduardo Saverin. Tension arose when the business partnership, which was what cemented the two, was threatened with the introduction of Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster during a meeting. While Saverin was wary of Parker, Zuckerberg was keen on having him join Facebook as they shared the same ideals. This difference in perception (incompatible goals) eventually led to conflict, when Zuckerberg insisted on including Parker in their partnership, against Saverin’s opinion. His ability to resolve this conflict was dysfunctional, evident in his decision in cutting down Saverin’s one third share in Facebook to less than one percent and therefore resulting in Saverin’s lawsuit against him.

         It is ironic, as stated in the tagline from the first picture above, that this man has had more than 500 million “friends” but in reality, has probably burnt more bridges than formed. His outright betrayal of Saverin and the unscrupulous way in which he stole the original idea for Facebook from three Harvard school mates merely demonstrate his disability to realize the importance of communication, especially conflict management. However, it cannot be denied that there is a possibility Zuckerberg did realize the consequences of his actions, but chose to ignore them in the pursuit of wealth and status, something the movie did hint on. After all, the same man chose to set up the somewhat degrading Facebook predecessor Face Mash, which allowed the Harvard population (but mostly aimed at the males) to rate pictures of female students online, in order to raise his social status. The movie, based solely on the director and screenwriter’s opinions and completely unaffiliated with Facebook or any significant personnel related to it, could still be skewed in order to dramatize events. Therefore, the audience has to discern between myth and fact.

Related links:
Official Page of The Social Network
Movie’s Wikipedia page
Interview with Vanity Fair