The Social Network is a 2010
drama film about the
founding of the
Internet social networking website Facebook. The film was directed by
David Fincher and features an
ensemble cast—
Jesse Eisenberg,
Andrew Garfield,
Justin Timberlake,
Brenda Song,
Max Minghella,
Rooney Mara,
Rashida Jones, and
Armie Hammer.
Aaron Sorkin adapted his
screenplay from
Ben Mezrich's
2009 "nonfiction" book
The Accidental Billionaires. No Facebook staff or employees, including
founder Mark Zuckerberg, were involved with the project, although
Eduardo Saverin was a
consultant for Mezrich's story.
[3] The film is
distributed by
Columbia Pictures and was released on October 1, 2010, in the
United States to critical acclaim.Plot:
In 2003,
Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg gets the idea to create a website to rate the attractiveness of female Harvard
undergraduates after his girlfriend Erica Albright breaks up with him. Mark hacks into the databases of various residence halls and downloads pictures and names. Using an
algorithm supplied by his best friend
Eduardo Saverin, Mark creates a page called "FaceMash", where male students choose which of two girls is more attractive.Mark is punished with six months of academic probation after the traffic to the site crashes parts of Harvard's network, and becomes vilified among most of Harvard's female community. However, the popularity of "FaceMash" and the fact that he created it in one night, while drunk, brings him to the attention of
Cameron Winklevoss and
Tyler Winklevoss, identical twins and members of Harvard's rowing team, and their business partner
Divya Narendra. The three explain to Mark that they are looking for a programmer to help bring to life their idea for a new website,
Harvard Connection. Mark agrees to help them.Soon afterwards, Mark approaches his friend Eduardo, who has recently been invited to pledge the
Phoenix S-K final club. Mark has an idea for what he calls "Thefacebook", an online social networking tool exclusive to Harvard University students, where people can display personal information. He explains this lets people share certain information without the invasion of privacy. Eduardo agrees to help Mark, providing a thousand dollars to help start the site. Mark and Eduardo eventually launch Facebook, distributing the link to Eduardo's connections at the Phoenix S-K. The site quickly becomes popular throughout the student body. When Narendra learns about the launch of Thefacebook, he tells the Winklevoss twins that Mark stole their idea; Cameron and Divya want to sue Mark for intellectual property theft, but Tyler votes against it.At a lecture by
Bill Gates, fellow Harvard University student Christy Lee introduces herself and her best friend Alice to Eduardo and Mark. She asks that the boys "Facebook us", which impressed both of them. During drinks with Christy and Alice, Mark runs into his ex-girlfriend, who is not aware of The Facebook's existence. Mark decides to expand the site to more schools. Christy, Mark, Eduardo later return to Mark's room where they outline the structure of the company and their plan for moving forward.As The Facebook grows in popularity, they expand to other schools in the
Northeastern United States, initially
Yale and
Columbia, and
Stanford as well, while the Winklevoss twins and Narendra become angrier at seeing "their idea" advance without them. Tyler refuses to sue them, instead accusing Mark of violating the Harvard student
Code of Conduct. Through their father's connections they arrange a meeting with Harvard President
Larry Summers, who is dismissive and sees no potential value in either a disciplinary action or in Thefacebook website itself.Through Christy Lee, now Eduardo's girlfriend, Eduardo and Mark arrange a meeting with
Napster co-founder
Sean Parker. When Christy, Mark and Eduardo meet Parker, Eduardo becomes skeptical of Parker, noting his problematic personal and professional history. Mark, however, is impressed with Parker since he presented a similar vision of Facebook. Although no deals are reached, Parker suggests that they drop "The" from Thefacebook to make it simply "Facebook".While Eduardo remains in New York for advertising support, Mark and Dustin Moskovitz move the company's base of operation to Palo Alto. When Eduardo visits from New York, he is angered that Sean Parker is living at the house and making business decisions for Facebook. After an argument with Mark, Eduardo freezes the bank account which he had set up for the company and returns to New York. Upon returning to New York, Christy and Eduardo get into an argument regarding his Facebook profile, and Christy burns a scarf he gave her as a gift. While Eduardo extinguishes the fire, Mark reveals over the phone that they have secured money from an
angel investor. Eduardo then tells Christy he's breaking up with her.In England, the Winklevoss twins become outraged that Facebook has expanded to universities in the United Kingdom and decide to sue Facebook. Meanwhile Eduardo learns that Mark and Sean have reduced his share of the company from a third to less than one tenth of one percent and decides to sue as well. At a party to celebrate the one millionth member of Facebook, Sean and several Facebook interns are arrested for possession of cocaine.The framing device throughout the film shows Mark testifying in
depositions in two lawsuits: one filed by the Winklevoss twins, and the other filed by Eduardo. In the final scene, a junior lawyer for the defense, played by
Rashida Jones, informs Mark they will be settling with Eduardo, since the sordid details of Facebook's founding and Mark's personality will make a jury highly unsympathetic. The film ends with Mark sending a friend request to his former girlfriend Erica on Facebook, and then refreshing the page every few seconds waiting for a response.