The Social Network Movie Review

Name: Melvin D. Botero

Year & Section: BSCS IV-B

THE SOCIAL NETWORK’S REACTION PAPER

The movie was all about the creator of the most well-known social media site today, Facebook. It tells about how the website was created in a Harvard dorm room way back in 2004 that has made a huge change on how we connect and communicate in the 21st century. All in all, the film is more than just the story of one website. It also gives its viewers a look at success, failure, and how money and fame change people.

        This movie is one of the captivating film I ever seen which is very relevant on my course I’m taking up. It contains several scenes which involve some ethical issues such as right to privacy, freedom of expression, and intellectual property which is much related to my subject this semester – Computer Ethics. Thus, making it a must watch movie.

First is right to privacy. This ethical issue was noticeable in the scene where Mark Zuckerberg made up Facemash, which somehow become the predessor of Facebook. With Facemash, a Hot or Not for female students, Mark hacks and brings down the university network and was able to get some photos of the female students. In that Mark’s action, he absolutely deprived the right of the female students to have privacy. Getting photos from an individual without his/her permission can be consider as a violation against right to privacy. Even before, there was already a law that protects the privacy of a person. Invasion of the right to privacy can be the basis for a lawsuit for damages against the person violating the right. That is why, this work of Mark leads him to get in some trouble with the school administration and made him an outcast on campus. Indeed, doing such thing can just lead us into trouble.

Second is freedom of expression. In the movie, we can’t deny the fact that some viewer might say that the main protagonist, Mark Zuckerberg, is rough on words, very arrogant and prank. Yet, I still love the way he defend his self and the way he talk like his not afraid at all. In the scene when he was called by the school administration and was interrogated regarding on what he did on the university network, he was not afraid to express his thoughts and ideas, and he has the sense sureness in every word that he speak. I find it funny though he is right about it when he said that he deserve recognition on breaking through Harvard’s Network. That scene shows the right of Mark to say what he wants through any form of communication. Nowadays, this particular freedom is one of the most abused right. Like for example in social media like Facebook, users tend to express ideas through posting it on their wall without thinking first that he/she might cause harm in character or reputation of other people. It is a healthy habit to practice the famous tagline of GMA News that says, think before you click. Moreover, we should always think that apart from the freedom of expression that we enjoy today, it is accompanied with responsibility because abusively or exceedingly expressing one’s idea becomes amenable to punishment.