4 26 12 The Social Network Recent film about contemporary society Phenomena of both Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Comments on the evolving expansive and ever changing world of social media How race class and gender resonate according to social media Based on dialogue Conversation heavy Not the large visual spectacle used by many mainstream movies today David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin Sorkin from The West Wing Clear distinctions between direction and screenwriting Set up as a film that will show how the founding of Facebook unfolded at Harvard amongst a croup of individuals in 2003 Mark Zuckerberg in his dorm room Contemporary narrative about creativity in the digital age The maverick Global reach of Facebook an example of contemporary American capitalism and creativity Zuckerberg wanting to join a Final club Exclusive fun and I leads to a better life Cultural capital How class functions in society made more contemporary in The Social Network Exclusivity What motivates Zuckerberg at first In reality Facebook is almost the most non exclusive thing ever Why would Facebook come into being Zuckerberg is not an athlete so he can t do that Even though he has a perfect SAT score it s not the same status as a good athelete Harvard Like a brand name signals Ivy League and is representative of an elite education For those who possess this education cultural capital Zuckerberg assumes he possesses superior cultural capital compared to a BU student But this is not enough A perfect SAT score at a place like Harvard means you are one of many He wants more regardless of the cultural capital he already has Wants even more exclusivity Zuckerberg is in awe of Sean Parker Has a cultural status Zuckerberg does not Harvard requires intelligence money and even a certain amount of family ties Levels of privilege Some are still locked outside As when Zuckerberg is only allowed in the bike room of the crew house Discrimination based on class social status and cultural capital Vindictiveness His exclusion from these places puts him in a position to create something that will be bigger than those things he was excluded from Wants to recreate the same structures that excluded him but he wants to be the one doing the excluding Degrees of cultural capital Ultimately about context Like brand names some resonate louder than others The Profile Interesting as a contemporary concept In our society the concept of fame has become increasingly important In the past fame was the kind of thing bestowed from a top down approach Promotion and publicity deems people as stars If only institutions can create stars they have all the power In the age of the profile when people can create their own identity and sense of stardom it has challenged the pervious top down approach Design your own fame Not necessarily based on fact or concrete information Reality shows and stars Not traditional celebrities Kim Kardashian is famous because she made a sex tape Something that was once the ultimate invasion of privacy a scandal now makes people famous Famous regardless of the complete lack of talent Corporations now approach her to sell and promote their products An example of how fame works in contemporary culture Individuals can create their own fame without having to wait for someone to give it Fame is now a form a cultural capital Facebook ultimately moves away from being exclusive His focus shifts from the desire to be cool to the desire to make money Eduardo getting punched to join the Phoenix club Mark says it was probably for diversity What does diversity mean out of an in context What does it ultimately mean The concept circulates in our society in such a way that individuals can claim diversity and use it to their advantage Money is not very important to me In order to say that it means he has a lot of money In order to reject privilege you must first have privilege His appearance also suggests this as does the way in which he treats his house Material possessions do not matter Implies a certain level of power and agency Advertising At first Zuckerberg thinks having ads is too uncool But then it doesn t matter because Facebook has so much information it doesn t need ads Substituting ads for personal information A person s identity is sold We have no idea how that information will be used It will be interesting as we move forward to see how privacy impacts our lives Facebook is like Apple Didn t invent music just gave a new way to listen to it Likewise Facebook didn t do anything new It just looked at what people liked wanted and recreated it In the end it comes down to money No cultural capital necessary What do friends mean in the digital environment Friends as a concept On Facebook in the context of The Decision Lebron James choosing to play basketball with his friends in Miami rather than staying in Ohio etc