The Social Network: A Geek’s Perspective
Fact vs. Fiction in the Facebook Origin Story
Christina and I went to see The Social Network, and I would give it a 7 out of 10. As a geek, the subject matter appealed to my interests, but you might be offended by how geeks are portrayed. If you don’t consider yourself a geek, don’t like social networking, or if you’re a woman, there’s an even better chance you won’t enjoy the movie. Not all geeks are out to screw everyone over as depicted, and I’ll leave it to you to decide how women were portrayed.
Fair warning: potential spoilers ahead. Being obsessed with researching things to verify accuracy, I did some post-movie Googling to fact-check the film against reality and learn more about the real people behind the characters.
Erica Albright
The movie begins with Mark Zuckerberg creating a website rating the attractiveness of female Harvard students after his girlfriend Erica Albright breaks up with him. The real Erica says: “The movie definitely brought back some great memories… I guess you could say the movie is ‘based on a true story’ but there are many scenarios that were soooo made up by Hollywood! As far as the two scenes I’m in, the first one is fairly accurate, we did ‘break-up’ over dinner… but the second scene of me at dinner with my friends blowing Mark off never happened. (also he NEVER friended me on Facebook) lol!”
Sean Parker
Not that he’s the best role model, but Sean Parker is someone I’ve read about for years. My favorite article is the October 2010 Vanity Fair piece titled “With a Little Help From His Friends.” Parker is described as a “Web oracle; more than a few acquaintances and colleagues use the word ‘genius’ to describe him. He understands not only computers and Web networks but also how people want to incorporate them into their lives.”
Even among his many supporters, Parker “has a reputation for being an erratic party animal.” He was pushed out of Facebook after an arrest for cocaine possession in 2005, though no charges were filed.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
Cameron and Tyler are identical twins on Harvard’s rowing team who meet Mark and request his help creating Harvard Connection. Soon after, Mark launches “TheFacebook.com,” prompting the Winklevosses to sue, claiming Mark stole their idea. I can’t say I fully understand their case – unless the idea was patented, isn’t Mark free to create whatever he wants?
Eduardo Saverin
Of all the “real world” characters, Eduardo was the most difficult to research online. He gets the “worst way to be portrayed” award, coming across as a nice guy who finishes last. Ironically, he seems to be the only one with ethics, so he should be the character we appreciate most. He once owned 30% of “thefacebook,” which was reduced to 0.03% once Peter Thiel (PayPal co-founder) and Sean Parker took control of the startup’s finances.
Mark Zuckerberg
According to the film, Mark creates thefacebook.com to meet women after his breakup. In reality, Mark’s girlfriend, Priscilla Chan (shown above), “was one of his pals at Harvard, where he studied back in 2004. Moreover, Chan is amongst the initial supporters who were with Mark when he came up with the concept of Facebook.” Chan even relocated to Silicon Valley with Zuckerberg after Facebook’s launch. She’s a medical student at UCSF with dreams of becoming a pediatrician.
Interesting Facts About the Movie
The Blue Backstory
Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind, which is why Facebook is blue. (Not about the movie, but interesting.)
Star Consultant
Natalie Portman, a Harvard student during Facebook’s creation, gave writer Aaron Sorkin insider information. He thanked her by referencing her in a scene.
Perfectionist Director
The opening breakup scene between Zuckerberg and Erica took 99 takes to complete under David Fincher’s direction.
Jesse says:
Never been on there and don’t want to, why would people want obsess over an idiotic Internet website? You are the reason for young people to go on there and then get bullied and or killed by meeting an quote on quote “awesome” guy and then guess what? You cant find your child anywhere. Thanks allot mark.
Kait says:
Hmm. I found Saverin to be the least sympathetic of all the players. He didn’t seem to actually do anything at all to advance the company. Just seems like a weanie who deserved nothing more than 15k at best. I would have billed him for every second of time he cost me trying to get him to participate and billed him for the advertising. Oops weanie…there goes the 15k.
Tristan says:
Great Updates on the players from the Social Network movie.I just finished watching it and wanted to see where and what they actually looked like. Well done Jeremy !