Innovative technologies, especially social networks, have a significant impact on human life. Over the past few decades, they have become one of the most important components of modern society. They have changed the habitual way of life of a person because now every individual uses them daily to perform tasks, communicate, and much more. The film The Social Network was chosen as an example of the impact of new technologies on society. Social networks can critically change people’s lives, the way they perceive the world around them, and have the power to distort the concept of real values.
People’s lives took a radical turn after the birth of such a world-famous social network as Facebook. It is this theme that is central to David Fincher’s film about the creators of this global phenomenon. However, this is only a superficial theme of the cinematic picture. In addition, it presents a look at success, failure and manifestations of self-love and greed. The film takes its idea from real events and the characters were created based on real-life people.
Initially, the idea of the main character Mark Zuckerberg was to create dating sites. In it, people were given the opportunity not only to meet new people, but also to evaluate their photos. However, during the creation of the project, a young man is expelled from an educational institution, due to the fact that he hacked the university network. After that, Facebook is created by collaborating with your best friend. The project is spreading with inconceivable speed on the network, interesting a huge number of users.
The main memorable feature of the film is how masterfully the actors convey the emotions and experiences of their characters. Therefore, the actor playing the main character makes the audience feel sympathy with Mark, not pity. Actors skillfully create portraits of young people who suddenly in such a short time have become significant figures in the still developing world of social networks and digital technologies.
The film’s dynamics are given by the fact that the disclosure of the main events takes place in the future, where the owners of the global network face various lawsuits related to the ownership of Facebook. The film also shows how unexpected power and money change the relationship of two friends. Huo et al. (2019) emphasize that “is a core element of inter-organizational relationships” (p. 2). Often, when people gain such great power, they stop showing empathy, begin to lie more and accept false ideas about this feature.
The actions in the film tell only about the first year of the existence of the social network. Thus, a rather unexpected ending can be considered a new stage in the formation of Facebook. The picture ends at a stage when the social network was still available only to colleges and has not yet gained the popularity that is known now. One of the features of the film is also the rapid development of events. The viewer is amazed that most of the significant events in the film take place only for a year and a half.
It is worth noting that in the film, despite the fact that the main story is the creation of a unique product and all the difficulties and details associated with it, the subtext of the director shows the inner desire of the main character to stand out. Many of Mark Zuckerberg’s actions are motivated by the desire to impress a girl, which is clearly visible after one of the scenes with Erica. Mark tries to mention his project doesn’t get enough attention, and immediately after that decides to expand. This desire to acquire the attention of the female sex drives all the founders of the social network. One gets the impression of the obsession of this idea of the plot of the film. This can be traced even in the words of young men about creating their own club where they, the presidents, can get the attention of any girl.
Social networks are a unique phenomenon of the twenty-first century, which has become firmly embedded in people’s lives. It is already impossible to imagine a modern society without social networks. However, it cannot be absolutely certain that they bring only benefit or harm. Consequently, the influence of social networks on people is very diverse and ambiguous, and the impact on a certain individual depends on subjective qualities. In view of all the above, we can say that it is necessary to approach the use of social networks wisely in order to be able to extract the maximum benefit and a minimum of negative consequences.
In conclusion, David Finch’s Social Media profile is an excellent example of how technology has an impact on society. In addition, it explores how the instant acquisition of power affects the relationship between people. Grandiose success and the opportunity to change the world has its price, and often this price is friendship. It is also worth noting the dynamics of the film and how the director and actors convey the emotions and experiences of the main characters.
Reference
Huo, B., Tian, M., Tian, Y., & Zhang, Q. (2019). The dilemma of inter-organizational relationships: Dependence, use of power and their impacts on opportunism. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 39(1), 2-23. Web.