Annotated Bibliography
This article gives a thorough review with an interesting perspective twist. The writer is a former Harvard student, and he decides to give his input on Zuckerberg's experience at Harvard as portrayed in the film. I think this review will be particularly helpful because it gives readers a better understanding of what Zuckerberg could've felt and experienced while he was a student at Harvard. This insight would be useful to maybe understand the social strains that Mark Zuckerberg felt as a student and how that may have been a contributing factor to why he created Facebook, which would be relevant for my idea.
Edelstein, David. "Best Served Cold." Rev. of The Social Network. The New Yorker 1 Oct. 2010: n. pag. New York Magazine. 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
This review presents a lot of good points that I could focus on: First, it discusses the irony of Facebook in general because Zuckerberg creates the sight after being rejected from toe social clubs at Harvard, but also being dumped by his girlfriend who compares him to a Stairmaster, another machine. Another good point is the idea that he loses the friends that really mean something to him as he gains fame, fortune, and numerous friends on his site Facebook. This review would serve as good support because it talks a lot about what drove Mark to create Facebook in the first place which is important to my argument.
Mezrich, Ben. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. New York: Doubleday, 2009. Print.
This book goes into detail about the creation of Facebook and the aftermath including the lawsuits Mark Zuckerberg faced. Some of the events were dramatized, but there is also a lot of information from sources, interviews, and Eduardo Saverin (Zuckerberg's former best friend) who met with the author. The book gives a more in depth look at some of the details the movie couldn't get to in it's time frame. I think this is a helpful source because it can give backup to my analysis and close reading of the film. If there is a scene from the movie i want to look more deeply into to get a better sense for the meaning, I have direct access to the book with a more detailed account of the events. One hard thing about this source is that some events are said to be dramatized, but there are also valid points to be found. I want t use this book to look more into the question "Why was Facebook created?" then relate it back to data I found about the site.
Turner, Fred. "The Social Network." Journal Of American History 98.1 (2011): 294-296. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014 .
The article starts by comparing Mark Zuckerberg to the novel, The Financier. In this story, the main character rises to power quickly by not the most ethical manners, then falls hard at the end. This almost parallels the story of Facebook creator as portrayed in the film. I really liked how it said the invention of Facebook was Zuckerberg's way of "rewriting the rules of sociability and with them, the perameters of power" (1). This article really focuses on the ambition and drive that we see as with someone who craves at least a little power and recognition. This helps look at Mark Zuckerberg more in depth and come to understand what exactly drove him to betray the people who trusted him with their ideas, hard work, money, and support. It helps me start to get ideas of why Mark chose Facebook over all his real that were there for him in person.
Travers, Peter. "The Social Network." Rev. of The Social Network. Rolling Stone n.d.: n. pag. Rolling Stone. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
This review balances summary and insight well, while giving the film and its actors plenty of praise all the way through. It touches on many f the characters' importance to Zuckerberg's success with Facebook, and how most of those who were of the greatest help were then snubbed and betrayed by someone they thought they could trust. Also, it goes into depth about Zuckerberg's personality and his behavior as played in the movie. This review with good character analysis will be helpful to back p my close reading. I like that it focuses on the characters, and how the actors who play them, really bring out something the audience can latch onto and get hooked on from the beginning. Even though Zuckerberg is portrayed as the bad guy, you can't help but root for him during the film as well.
Wang, N., et al. “Can Well-Being Be Measured Using Facebook Status Updates? Validation Of Facebook’s Gross National Happiness Index.” Social Indicators Research 115.1 (2014):483-491. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.
This a credible source from a research journal that explores people's moods in correlation their positive of negative posts on Facebook. The study was done over a year's time and interestingly enough found that when people had negative statuses most of the time they were in a good mood. I think this is relevant and may be useful for my paper because it looks deeply into how people express themselves using social media, and in this specific case, Facebook. I could possibly use it to support other research of why people use Facebook.
Nadkarni, Ashwini, and Stefan G. Hofmann. "Why Do People Use Facebook?"Personality and Individual Differences 52.3 (2012): 243-49. 26 Nov. 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.This article written by a group of scientists that studied why people use Facebook. They came up with three interesting ideas and go more into detail explaining why so many people are online using social media. The three reasons were to create public profile, to find other people who hey have a connection with, and last is to look at and follow their own connections or someone else's connections on Facebook. This article is extremely helpful and perfect for my paper because I am actually asking the question of why so many people choose to use Facebook, and this article goes in depth to explore this question. I plan to use this article and connect it to why Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook and why the public today continues to use it so often.
Ryan, Tracii, and Sophia Xenos. "Who Uses Facebook? An Investigation into the Relationship between the Big Five, Shyness, Narcissism, Loneliness, and Facebook Usage." Computers in Human Behavior 27.5 (2011): 1658-664. Sept. 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
As this article mentions most research done concerning who uses Facebook has been focused on students, but this article focuses on people from the ages of 18-44 which gives much more range and variety to their research. Also, they made it a comparative study because they studied Facebook and non-Facebook users. The study looked at the types of people, personality wise, who were and were not on Facebook. This research is extremely helpful, and will give great support to my writing about why people use Facebook. I can use it to talk about what makes people want to use Facebook, then how it affects them and their behaviors.
Craig, Elizabeth, and Kevin B. Wright. "Computer-Mediated Relational Development And Maintenance On Facebook®." Communication Research Reports 29.2 (2012): 119-129. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
This article discusses examines the relationships people form via social media and specifically Facebook in this case. The study focused on college students and how they build and maintain relationships online. This will be helpful to maybe look into why people keep logging into Facebook, they like these connections that they make and what to keep them going. The relevance of looking at college students is perfect because I can relate it back to Mark Zuckerberg's life and his reasons for creating Facebook because he was a college student when it al started.
Ellison, Nicole B., Charles Steinfield, and Cliff Lampe. "The Benefits Of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital And College Students’ Use Of Online Social Network Sites." Journal Of Computer-Mediated Communication 12.4 (2007): 1143-1168. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
The focus of this article is on the relationship between social capital, the networks and connections between people, and people's use of Facebook. The study also viewed undergraduate college students, like the previous article. It looks into the strength of their relationships and the psychological benefits of using Facebook and making these connections. The study found that Facebook could benefit people experiencing low self esteem more so than others. I think this article speaks a lot to why people use Facebook and even helps make sense of some of the reasons Mark might have created Facebook. I think this article ties my two ideas together well.