The Social Network Film Analysis

The film “The Social Network” directed by David Fincher shows the story of the creation of the popular social media website Facebook and the man behind it, Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg. In “The Social Network” Mark Zuckerberg is portrayed as a person who could be perceived as egotistical or even arrogant in his social context. Zuckerberg is someone who is unaware of his communication style and how it affects the people he’s speaking to, almost completely oblivious to how the other person is feeling and seems lost when faced with confrontation. Although he cannot seem to relate to people on any type of emotional level, interesting enough he seems to understands a person’s need to feel connected and is a genius when it comes to computer programming. Mark Zuckerberg’s communication in “The Social Network” show’s how one’s lack of acknowledgement of one’s own self-concept could have a negative effect on your relationships and how others perceive you.

In chapter 3 of the textbook it describes the self concept as “The set of perceptions a person has about he or she is; also known as identity.” (p67) Mark Zuckerberg’s self-concept in the film is one that may be perceived as over-confident. This is due to Zuckerberg’s unawareness of his own self-concept and his inability to manage it. His range of managing his self-concept would be on the low end of the spectrum as he has a total disregard to how others are feeling during their conversations. This is evident in his remarks during conversation, and even his body language and facial expressions.

Our first glimpse at Marks lack of awareness of his own self-concept is in the opening scene of the film. Mark is shown having a conversation with the girl he’s dating, Erica. During the conversation they are talking about final clubs at school and Mark mentions that he would be able to take Erica to the events the club offers and she would be able to meet people she would never have the opportunity to meet, unintentionally insulting her. He even takes it a step further and points out that she would never have the opportunity to meet these people he could introduce to her simply because she only attends Boston University, again insulting and belittling her. Erica now perceives mark as an elitist and rude and dumps him on the spot. This could have been avoided if Mark was aware of his own self-concept and how he could have managed the conversation by adapting to how Erica was reacting to the things he was saying.

Another example of Marks inability to be aware of his self concept and the negative effects that occur to his relationships is in the scene where Eduardo gets the notice that he made the second cut. Obviously excited he goes to Mark to let him know, yet Mark replies that he should be proud of that and shouldn’t worry if he doesn’t make it any further. Not only does his remark not sound very encouraging or supporting but Mark’s facial expression was very obviously not impressed and his body language and attention was on Facebook and the project at hand, completely ignoring Eduardo’s obvious sense of pride and accomplishment. Eduardo leaves quickly and takes the hint that Mark is too busy or doesn’t really care about his accomplishment.

Mark Zuckerberg’s depiction in “The Social Network” is one that shows how much of a brilliant mind he is behind a computer and as an entrepreneur, yet it also shows Mark’s lack of skill in being a competent communicator. Although he somewhat understands a human beings need to communicate, he does not seem to understand how to manage and be aware of his own self-concept, which ultimately leaves a bad taste in the mouths of his friends and partners.