Morris
Inter-HE Andrea 501
Assignment of Choice
The movie The Social Network, tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg, and his
journey in creating what the world now knows as Facebook. Zuckerberg displays an
overwhelming number of entrepreneurial characteristics, which his character in the film
helps to portray.
Mark Zuckerberg is the definition of an entrepreneur. He did not just have the idea
of creating a social networking site, but he had the drive and passion to follow through
with its creation. His original product called FashMash eventually evolved into The
Facebook, an online network for Harvard Students. His entreprenurialistic nature was
shown again following a run in with his ex-girlfriend who was not a Harvard student.
When he realized that she had never heard of facebook because it was limited to students
at Harvard, he saw that as an opportunity to expand and improve upon his original
creation, making The Facebook available to students at Universities across the country.
Over time his idea continued to evolve into what is now Facebook.
Although it is apparent that Zuckerberg is nothing short of an entrepreneur,
Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin portray Zuckerberg in a very
negative light. The film is framed with constant clips of Zuckerberg as he testifies in
court in 2 lawsuits against him. One, with the Winklevoss twins who believe that he stole
their idea for his website, and the other with friend a business partner Eduardo. The
framing of the film leads viewers to believe that he did in fact steal the idea, and that he
was unjustified in making the decisions that he did without consent from Eduardo who
had funded the project. Despite his great success, and many achievements that came as a
result of his creation of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg was very unethical in his actions and
hurt people many in his attempts at success. He is also made out to be the bad guy at the
party that was held in celebration of the millionth facebook member. It is indirectly
implied that it was Zuckerberg who called the cops and was intentionally trying to get
Parker in trouble as a way of getting him out of the company.
Our society today, is one ruled by capitalism, with people trying to get ahead of
everyone else and taking all means necessary to improve and advance their own lives.
This mindset is very apparent in The Social Network and in the character of Mark
Zuckerberg. While he had the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Winklevoss
twins on creating a social network, he instead went out on his own hoping to reap all of
the profits from the idea. He allowed his greed to get the best of him and was very selfish
in his actions. The way that he acted parallels many people in society today and fits in
with the context of the times. Zuckerberg, as depicted in the film, possesses the creativity
and drive that is necessary in entrepreneurship, but lacks the leadership qualities that lead
to sustained success. He deceived many people and lost their trust in his journey to
success. As an entrepreneur, you are a leader, someone representing the company or
brand that you create. Zuckerberg therefore, is the face of his social networking site and
his actions in The Social Network had the potential to have a very negative impact on
his success.
It is very clear that Mark Zuckerbergs character in The Social Network is very
entrepreneurial. Throughout the film he took risks, displayed a clear passion and drive for
what he was doing, created a new and innovative product, and when he saw fit, made
changes and improvements to his original product. His actions, despite many of them
being questionable, show