The Social Network

After yesterday's discussion of Facebook in class, I couldn't help but log on and do some exploring. What I discovered was so interesting ( at least to me)...All of the real people that were featured as character's in The Social Network who were snubbed by Zuckerberg's character ( the Winklevoss twins, Eduardo Saverin, Erica Albright) all had Facebook profiles. In fact, Eduardo Saverin's profile page was classified as "OFFICIAL". This to me spoke volumes towards the "pull" of Facebook. Despite offline relations ( lawsuits, stolen ideas,etc) Facebook has become this machine which has an ability to mediate communication and a desire to join because it is now considered necessary in today's society. That is, if your friends are on Facebook and you want to keep in contact with them, Facebook has become a necessity to do so. That being said, maybe those enemies of Zuckerberg are on Facebook because it allows a person on Facebook to choose who they want to be in contact with. That is, you have to accept a friend request. As such, friends in the Facebook world can be built around your reality in the offline world, or be different (dependent upon your current status in relationships- there's a button for that too!) I guess Facebook's ability to allow you to tailor your online world to your liking (like ordering a Starbucks latte) is what drives the desire to JOIN Facebook...or it could just be that communication is necessary....and well...Facebook is a communication MACHINE.