the social network - Review

the social network - Review


How did Facebook become the phenomenon that it is? How did Mark Zuckerberg create this sensation at 20 years old? I don't know one person who uses Facebook who will not want to watch this movie. 


Accept it or not, facebook is a huge part of our lives. But back in 2003 did you think that you would abandon  most of the other social networking sites like MySpace, Orkut and whatever else was out there. Only in 2007 I blogged about how Orkut was helping me stay in touch with my friends. I guess Facebook at the time was still just growing and it had not become the phenomenon that it is now. I don't even think Zuckerberg can define Facebook. In the movie he says, "We don't know what it is yet. All we know is that it's cool!" Yeah, I agree it's cool. It's a polished and clean website that is totally customized to you and in the process making everyone at Facebook a billionaire. 


Well, Billionaires yes, not every one got their fair share. The movie is plays like a carefully scripted documentary with all the glitz and hoopla of a Hollywood blockbuster thrown in. When the movie starts of in a bar, with Zuckerburg blabbering on and on and on to some girl at a break neck speed, you wonder. What the heck is this? But the moment she storms out of the bar after calling in an a****le. You realize what made the facebook. How the ideas came to be. Facebook is the creation of a genius mind of a teen who just got dumped. And he did it why? To get back at her of course. His best friend, Eduardo Saverin provides him the key ingredient, an algorithm to create a website that can rate girls. facemash.com. These 2 co-founders of the best social networking site on the planet, started crafting the idea over beers and thousands of lines of code. The beauty of the movie is it shows you the evolution of an idea. A small spark that led to another and another and ultimately Facebook.


I learned a lot of things yesterday. For the longest time I didn't even care who created facebook. Until I learned that Mark, was the youngest Billionaire on the planet. He's as old as me & he made facebook. Wow! 


The movie does justice to all parties in the film. It shows you that facebook was not an idea that came from one guy. It was the culmination of the best from all the facebook pages in Harvard, the social networking capabilities of MySpace and Friendster and some simple day to day aspects of college life. The movie is a must watch. Hats off to the beautifully crafted story. It never gives you a chance to get bored, without evergoing too fast.


My Rating: 4 on 5.


Rahul.