Extra Credit- "The Social Network"

Now I have to say, I didn't exactly have the highest expectations for this movie in the beginning, but after all was said and done, I actually kind of enjoyed it. I found it really interesting to see how "The Facebook" came to be. To think that some brainy kid from Havard, who invented this simple website to allow people at his university to communicate and share pictures effectively, became the youngest billionaire ever just blows my mind. Two things come to mind when I think about this movie; the first being the actual story behind the creation of Facebook, and the second, the effect that Facebook has had upon the world.

Mark Zuckerberg is one brilliant kid. First, one has to have the computer knowledge to even build a website of that size and second, one has to actually come up with an idea for such a website. I'm not sure if the movie exaggerated on some parts (I'm sure that it did), but I can't believe Facebook was created as the result of a breakup with a girlfriend and the resentment of rich fraternity boys. I feel that it is obvious that Mark Zuckerburg did not steal the idea of Facebook from the twin brothers belonging to the fraternity, but it is obvious, from what the movie portrayed, that he did screw his friend, Eduardo, over. I don't know about anyone else, but I almost felt bad for Eduardo, especially with that crazy girlfriend of his. I also feel like Sean Parker squeezed his way into a company that he didn't belong to and took over his Eduardo's position. But that's a whole other story in itself.

As entertaining as the story line is behind the development of Facebook, a bigger question has yet to be answered... How has Facebook affected the world? That's exactly what I was thinking by the end of the movie. Facebook started out as just a website for Harvard students, and then spread to other colleges and universities, and eventually opened up to allow the whole world to join. Facebook is an example of how influential social networking can be, considering how fast it caught on. As the demand for Facebook increased, so did too, Facebook's quality and what it was capable of. Facebook has reconnected lost relatives and families, brought together college students and other groups, and has even acted in place of the television. You no longer need to turn on the television to watch breaking news, just log onto Facebook and read your friend's statuses. Facebook is a great way to catch up with someone without actually having to talk to them or leave your house, as pictures and statuses can tell us a great deal. These days, Facebook is everywhere, and if you don't have a Facebook account, it is almost like you are falling behind or setting yourself up for failure. So many jobs today, especially in fields of journalism or communications, require that their employees have a Facebook and know how to use it. This right here gives us an inkling as to how big social networking sites have become and will continue to grow in the future, especially with the rise of laptops and smart phones.