Ask HN: What do you think "The Social Network" will do to our industry? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What do you think "The Social Network" will do to our industry?

15 pointskloncks12 comments

I got to see a pre-release of the movie with a friend and this was the big question we had coming out.

The movie portrays technology, hacking (particularly late-night), and startups as a really cool thing. Tech nerds (like Zuckerburg or Sean Parker) are seen having wild sex, awesome fun, and making a ton of money in a seemingly nontrivial way.

Most people that will see this movie will not understand that it's 99.97% fiction. It will likely be what they think of when the word "startups" or "technology" comes to mind.

What do you think of that? How do you think the movie will change the public's perception of us?

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They will think:

(1) that we write equations in white markers on glass windows (like John Nash in Beautiful Mind) prior to whipping out PHP to build a website, (2) that Zuckerberg intended from the start for Facebook to become the photo-and-info-sharing megahub it is today (almost like he had Facebook Places in his head 7 years ago), rather than implementing something that Harvard IT had promised "in a few years" (from the horse's mouth), (3) that we get more action than we probably do for being technology folks, (4) that secret societies at Harvard are just as mysteriously sexy and dangerous as other movies like The Skulls have made them out to be, (5) that kids entering college have more vision, ambition, and maturity about their futures rather than being awkward and confused (I teach freshmen sometimes), (6) that "hacking" is frequently accompanied by hot nypmhettes pleasuring you in time trials, in which case "Hacker News" is a total misnomer.

In other words, they will not think anything new...

My friends and relatives will wonder why I'm not rich yet.

You can't win unless you play the game!

Movies, especially Hollywood movies, are about conflict. The Facebook movie looks like it will focus on egos gone amuck, with Zuckerberg as antihero.

Real life is usually less about open conflict and more about slow grinding progress to mutual benefit. So, every meeting that isn't about hurling epithets like "I WILL DESTROY YOU" just won't make the cut.

I am always disappointed because movies are so bad at showing the twists and turns of working out a successful design -- to me this is the most truly "dramatic" part of our job. That said, from the trailers, it looks like the entire movie has a subtheme of where ideas come from and who deserves credit. So I'm at least somewhat optimistic.

From what you've described, it'll more likely change the public's perception of Zuckerburg and Facebook instead of startups.

I don’t like the way Hollywood portrays people in this thing of ours. The typical computer guy in the movies is introverted, socially inept, unpleasant and weak. I would like to see a cooler, happier portrayal of us. I realize that our reality is actually countless hours of toil. But I wish movies would err on the side of cool rather than "nerdy"

I'm a bit confused. "The movie portrays technology, hacking (particularly late-night), and startups as a really cool thing. Tech nerds (like Zuckerburg or Sean Parker) are seen having wild sex, awesome fun, and making a ton of money in a seemingly nontrivial way."

Sean Parker, yes. Zuck (at least to me) was portrayed as typically avoiding the party scene and focusing completely on building the product.

Also, late-night hacking IS cool. I can't think of a programmer who doesn't enjoy it. If you're passionate about building a product, a lot of really awesome breakthroughs come after the traditional 9-5.

I think that the public's idea can only be more positive. I think people in the industry or people with interests related to the industry will gain some bizarre step-up in the amount of interest and respect they receive from strangers and those unfamiliar with the work. I think that slight bump up will be especially present among college peers.

I have been aware of this movie's release for a while now and I look forward to it. I plan on spreading word of my own project on campus soon, and I can't see how this movie would hurt me in any way. I can even understand how it could boost interest in my project.

I havn't seen this movie, but Hollywood traditionally has had an exceptionally poor record at depicting anything related to computing with any sort of accuracy.

My guess is that a large number of people will assume that this is a completely accurate biography of Zuckerberg, and that PHP coders enjoy a lifestyle of luxury and excess similar to that of a rockstar.

I'm waiting for Google to index social networks content.

hacker news will probably be over run by wannabe mark zuckerbergs.

Nothing.

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