Year 9 Sociology Unit One :Youth
Film Analysis: The Social Network
Sociology of the Internet From Wikipedia
Sociologists are [interested in] the social implications of the technology; new social networks, virtual communities and ways of
interaction that have arisen. … The sociology of the Internet … concerns the analysis of online communities (e.g. as found in
newsgroups), virtual communities and virtual worlds, organizational change catalyzed through new media like the Internet, and
social change at-large in the transformation from industrial to informational society (or to information society).
The Social Network Background and Plot
Every age has its visionaries who leave, in the wake of their genius, a changed world – but rarely without a battle over exactly what happened
and who was there at the moment of creation. The Social Network explores the moment at which Facebook was invented –through the warring
perspectives of the super-smart young men who each claimed to be there at its inception. The movie moves from the halls of Harvard to the
cubicles of Palo Alto to capture the heady early days of a culture-changing phenomenon in the making – and the way it both pulled a group of
young revolutionaries together and then split them apart. In the midst of the chaos are Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), the brilliant Harvard
student who conceived a Web site; Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), once Zuckerberg's close friend, who provided the seed money for the
fledgling company; Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who brought Facebook to Silicon Valley's venture capitalists; and the
Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence), the Harvard classmates who asserted that Zuckerberg stole their idea and then sued him
for ownership of it. Each has his own narrative, his own version of the Facebook story in this multi-level portrait of 21st Century success – both
the youthful fantasy of it and its finite realities as well. Written by Columbia Pictures.
Fill in the following grid while viewing the The Social Network.
Who is Mark Zuckerberg?
Who helps Mark Zuckerberg establish what
eventually becomes Facebook?
Why is Mark Zuckerbeg sued by the Winklevoss
twins?
Why is Mark Zuckerberg sued by his ex-best friend
Eduardo?
Who is Sean Parker? What is his claim to fame?
What happens to Eduardo Saverin?
Answer the following questions after viewing the The Social Network:
1. ‘Let the hacking begin’. Why is it unethical for Mark and his friends to rate female
undergraduate students against one another? Think about;
a) Sexual objectification of women
b) Digital citizenship
2. Why, in your opinion, did this site receive 22,000 hits in under one hour?
3. Eduardo describes ‘the facebook’ idea as taking ‘the entire social experience of college
and putting it online’.
a) What is the ‘social experience’ he is referring to exactly?
b) Why is ‘social structure…everything’ at college?
4. ‘You called me a b**** on the internet…it is written in ink…’ Why is Erica so upset
about the way Mark handled their breakup? What does she mean by ‘it is written in
ink’?
5. ‘This is our time…’ ‘A billion dollar company is here…’ ‘This is once in a generation holy
s*** idea…’ Why is Sean Parker so successful in manipulating Mark Zuckerberg?
6. ‘Let’s gut the…nerd.’ Why do the Winklevoss twins decide to finally take legal action
after all? What events lead to them making this decision?
7. Why does Eduardo describe the second lot of papers he is given as ‘an ambush?’ Is
Eduardo’s treatment fair? Should he have read his contract more closely or is he is a
victim?
8. Zuckerberg settles with both the Winklevoss twins and Eduardo. Why? And why does
the lawyer describe the settlement as merely a ‘speeding ticket’ for him?
9. Facebook is worth $25 billion. Why do you think Facebook is worth this much? Why is it
so popular?