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Last night I saw Social Network and the story was exactly what I imagined: how facebook came to exist. However, I didn’t expect it to be so interesting, from the point of view of a facebook user and a designer. I loved learning about the founders and why they chose certain aspects and directions, for example, how the ‘relationship status’ came to be and why it was included. It made me realise that I had underestimated the amount of time and talent that had been required to create it, and I now appreciate facebook far more as a piece of design.

The film flicked between the past and the two court cases, which were set in the present, against Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of facebook. It was not at all confusing, and it must have reflected on how Zuckerberg felt at the time. Nonetheless, it was the story and details that grabbed my attention, rather than the style of filming. Every now and then, there were fantastic little one-liners that kept the film light-hearted amongst the intensity and slight element of negativity.

Zuckerberg was depicted as quite a blunt, serious and stubborn character, yet I found myself growing fond of him. I loved his intelligence and passion, and I also began to respect him because of his gift.

I really enjoyed this film. I found it incredibly interesting especially as it highlighted how facebook has become part of our language (“facebook me”), and how quickly it’s become a phenomenon. Hence why Social Network is a film that we can all relate to because we all use facebook. I also loved the ending shot: Zuckerberg, the facebook co-creator, refreshing a girl’s facebook page, waiting for her to accept his friend request.