Drake

1 Marc Drake Professor Erin Dietel-McLaughlin Community Based Writing and Rhetoric 7 October 2011 Violence and the Social Networking Revolution On February 4, 2004, a new social networking site was launched from a Harvard dorm room by an undergraduate and a group of his friends. The site planned to rival popular social networking sites such as Myspace and Friendster by placing a persons real friendship group online. Initially open only to Harvard students, the site attempted to provide a way for Harvard students to meet one another and connect conveniently online. Seven years later that small dorm room operation known as Facebook has exploded into one of the most frequently used websites on the Internet and the most populace social networking site at over 800 million users. The 2011 film The Social Network, which chronicles the development and early days of Facebook, glorifies violence as one of the driving forces in society and business. Additionally, the film depicts violence as a normal and appropriate reaction in daily life. Although the violence in the social network is not displayed in a physical sense, it is prevalent in attitudes of superiority and double-crossing. The opening scene of the film paints a picture of the socially awkward Mark

Zuckerburg; a young genius calloused to the feelings of others. Zuckerburg and his girlfriend exchange in some name-calling, and the hurt Zuckerburg then retreats to his dorm room at Harvard University. In a drunken frenzy, he proceeds to write an angry, insult laden blog post about his former beau. By the end of the movie, Zuckerburg is the

Drake 2 millionaire CEO of the biggest social network in history. By depicting Zuckerburg as a cold, and emotionally turbulent character, the director seems to suggest that an arrogance and disregard for the well being of others is crucial to success in the business world. The film frequently presents the idea that self-absorption and trickery are the keys

to success in the world of business. For example, Zuckerburg creates a website designed to rate his female counterparts and sends it to various people around the Harvard campus. Previously insulted by a woman, Zuckerburg feels totally justified in taking out his frustration on totally unrelated members of the campus. By pinning women against each other based off their attractiveness, Zuckerburg targets the womens pride in an attempt to restore his own. This is consistent with James Gilligans theory of violence as a result of shame. In the first chapter of his book Preventing Violence, Gilligan summarizes this idea when he states, the basic psychological motive, or cause, of violent behavior is the wish to ward off or eliminate the feeling of shame and humiliation a feeling that is painful, and can even be intolerable and overwhelming and replace it with its opposite, the feeling of pride (29). After his girlfriend, broke up with him and insulted his personality, Zuckerburg feels his pride has been attacked. In an effort to restore his pride, Zuckerburg chooses to not only verbally assault the girl he felt had wronged him, but also to take out his aggression on those who were in no way involved with the incident. In The Accidental Billionaires, the book that the movie is based off, Zuckerburg proudly boasts that his exploits revealed flaws in Harvards security system. Instead of admitting what he had done was wrong, Zuckerburg views his online insults as something to be proud of. Another attribute of violence that can be extracted from the opening scene of the

movie is the reciprocity of violence. According to Gilligan, violence is committed once an

Drake 3 individuals pride has been compromised. However, one persons act of violence leads to another individuals pride being attacked. For example, Zuckerburgs girlfriend felt she was being insulted in the opening scene of the movie. In response to this, she chose to break up with Zuckerburg and speak ill of him. After this instance of violence, Zuckerburg chose to create his website and pit the girls against each other in an effort to restore his pride. The domino effect of violence is demonstrated in that one act of violence increases the chance of more violent behavior occurring. Had Zuckerburg refrained from insulting his girlfriend in the first place, the other instances of violence never would have occurred. Popular outlooks on violence in modern society confirm this phenomenon. People act violently because they themselves have seen or experienced violence. For example, children coming from a home where violence is frequently demonstrated as an acceptable and appropriate response will be more likely to exhibit violent behavior. This idea goes along with early creation myths that claim we are all innately violent and that our tendency towards violence is not something that is cultivated, but rather something that is strengthened or weakened based off our exposure to violence. In his article, Facing the Myth of Redemptive Violence, Walter Wink summarizes the Babylonian creation myth and the central tenant of other myths when he states, The implications are clear: human beings are created from the blood of a murdered god. Our very origin is violence. Killing is in our genes. Humanity is not the originator of evil, but merely finds evil already present and perpetuates it. According to these early myths, people have an innate tendency towards violence and seeking retribution through the use of violence. Under this reasoning, Zuckerburg is completely justified in his actions; he is merely acting out his natural impulses.

Drake 4 As the film progresses, Mark Zuckerburg and his friends watch their tiny dorm room

project spiral into a craze sweeping colleges throughout the nation. Through the flashbacks, viewers are shown the legal trouble that Zuckerburg runs into with the Winkelvoss twins and his former partner Eduardo Saverin. The twins take Zuckerburg to court under the allegation that he deceived them and stole the idea of their social networking site. In the legal proceedings of both cases, Zuckerburg maintains a smug, condescending attitude. He belittles the Winklevoss twins and makes cutting remarks toward the lawyers. In one of the court scenes, Eduardo Saverin quotes Zuckerburg as saying even his (Zuckerburgs) most pathetic friends knew about more about getting people interested in a website than these guys (the Winklevoss twins). Throughout the film, Zuckerburg is constantly insulting those that he has already hurt. By his incessant insults, Zuckerburg attempts to use violence as a way to regain his sense of self-worth. However, despite his frequent tries, Zuckerburgs violent attempts to restore his

pride seem to fall short. Several times, the movie depicts instances where Zuckerburgs insecurities are apparent. In one scene of the movie, Zuckerburg spots his former girlfriend while at a dinner with the other leaders of Facebook. Intent on finding some sense of catharsis, Zuckerburg rushes over to speak to her. After a very half-hearted attempt to mend the tension, the girl tells Zuckerburg she has no interest in speaking to him and that she is busy with her friends. After feeling rejected again, Zuckerburg rushes away and exclaims, We must expand. to the rest of his colleagues. To Zuckerburg, the entirety of Facebook, and all of the verbal violence that comes along with, are an attempt to redeem the pride that he lost in that moment. Gilligan comments on this occurrence in males when, in his book Preventing Violence, he states, men can prove their manliness, their

Drake 5 masculine sexual adequacy, when it has been called into question by an insult or a sign of disrespect, by means of violence (57). Violence is merely used as an attempt to regain lost dignity. To regain his self-respect and his manliness, Zuckerburg turns to building a social empire that will show the girl who spurned him that he is socially superior. Many may assert that Zuckerburg merely capitalized on opportunities that were

presented to him, and that his violent actions had no bearing on the building of Facebook. In a capitalist system where innovation is the key to success, the end often justifies the means. Zuckerburg merely made a serious of morally neutral business decisions. However, I would challenge this view under the claim that, according to the film, Facebook was not only built as a result of violence but was maintained as a result of conflict. Facebook evolved from the original website Mark Zuckerburg created to objectify the women of Harvard, and it is in this we see that Facebook is rooted in verbal violence. As the website progressed, it continued to grow because of the website Zuckerburg had made for himself out of that fiasco. Later, Facebook garners even more popularity after Zuckerburg allegedly steals the idea of two other students and unexpectedly kicks his best friend out of the company they started. All of the trickery and deception that led to the popularity of the website are directly resulted to the night in the bar where Zuckerburg and his then girlfriend bicker off Marks mean comments. One of the keys to preventing violence from occurring and reoccurring is to provide the perpetrator of the violence with a sense of pride independent of the violence. In Zuckerburgs case, his actions were an attempt to redeem self-esteem lost when his girlfriend broke up with him. If she chose to forgive him or he found a healthy source of pride, Zuckerburgs condescending outbursts would have ceased. Similarly, violence in

Drake 6 other people, namely children, can be prevented by providing them with another means of restoring self-esteem that may have been taken from them. A variety of activities can accomplish this task such as enrolling the children in a sport or getting them in involved in clubs. By providing a healthy place where self-esteem can be derived, they no longer will be forced to turn to violence as a way of regaining confidence. In accordance with Gilligans ideas, people turn to violence because this has been expressed as an acceptable way to regain pride or self-esteem. By teaching them that there are much better ways to deal with the problems that they are facing, people can turn from violence as a default means of conflict resolution and replace it with a much healthier method of gaining self-esteem.

Drake 7 Works Cited Fincher, David. Dir. The Social Network. Columbia Pictures, 2010. Film. Gilligan, James. Shame and Death of Self. Preventing Violence. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2001. 29-57. Print Mezrich, Ben. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. New York: 2009. Print. Wink, Walter. "Facing the Myth of Redemptive Violence." Ekklesia. 16 Nov. 2007. Web. 05 Oct. 2011.