Facebook

Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg, recently faced a character attack after the release of The Social Network. The movie, a somewhat biographical depiction of Faceboook’s origins and legal troubles portrays Zuckerberg as arrogant, self assured and rude. The movie begins with Zuckerberg’s girlfriend not only dumping him but insulting him by insisting on his less than desirable personality. From the start, the movie actively portrays Mark as the “bad guy”. This is a theme constantly reinforced throughout the movie through the language, demeanor, and dress of Jessie Eisenberg, who played the part of Mark Zuckerberg. Comparatively, David Kirkpatrick’s work on the same topic, The Facebook Effect, gives an entirely different perspective on Zuckerberg. Compared to the hostile opening of the movie, the introduction of Kirkpatrick’s book tells how Facebook was used to generate support against the FRAC and helped stage a worldwide demonstration. From there Kirkpatrick moves to the fateful night when Zuckerberg created Facemash. In this telling, the author only breezes over women issues, rather than focusing on the topic. Throughout the book, the author seems to stray away from less favorable topics, and includes situations where Zuckerberg,, or Facebook come off in a better light. Advertising is an interesting example of such instances. Kirkpatrick constantly insists how Zuckerberg fought against ads and tried to restrict their presence on the site. Kirkpatrick writes “The last thing Zuckerberg wants was for it to feel like watching a network television, where the show is routinely interrupted by irrelevant and inane advertising” (236). By adding such comments the author makes Zuckerberg out to be someone who fights against “the man” and for the rights of the people to have their own space. The idea of creating a free space for users also appears when Kirkpatrick writes about Zuckerberg’s obsession with adding platforms to Facebook. Once again, Zuckerberg is seen fighting against the masses to create something great for Facebook. By adding such examples the books shows Zuckerberg as a hero, defending the rights of Facebook and its integrity to the users. By creating a character who protects and defends the site it is easier to have a sympathetic view of Zuckerberg. It is interesting how each portrayal takes a different approach to the same person through the use of examples. Rude person or not, Zuckerberg created Facebook and in doing so changed American culture.