Movie Moment: (Surfing) The Social Network

When I first heard about the movie The Social Network, I was interested. I hadn't known that a Harvard undergrad was the mastermind behind Facebook, or that he hatched the whole thing while I myself was in college. I wanted to know what kind of person this guy was, and why he was motivated to create such a Web site. Which is a little curious in and of itself seeing as I'm not the biggest Facebook fan (despite the fact that I'm on it). So, this afternoon, my mother, sister, and I went to see The Social Network. The theater was packed with people of all ages, which surprised me (somehow I expected to see mainly twentysomethings).

I should begin by saying that the entire story is told as a fragmented flashback. That is, in the beginning we find out that Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) is being sued by his best friend and a couple of big man on campus types for creating Facebook. The back story begins with Mark and his girlfriend hanging out in a classically dark and depressing looking college town bar. Mark is telling his girlfriend how badly he wants to be accepted into the Phoenix or the Porcellian, two exclusive intellectual Harvard social clubs. He drones on incessantly in a voice not unlike a robot's, ignoring his girlfriend's attempts to guide his monologue into a conversation. The scene clearly establishes Mark as an intellectually superior but socially inept computer nerd who seems to have no feelings (as opposed to the more common stock character of the sensitive, lovable nerd). Predictably, his girlfriend dumps him, and he retreats to his room to get drunk and spill his post-breakup vitriol into his blog. Spurred further by alcohol and bitterness, he goes on to hack into Harvard's server data to create an online game in which guys can rate girls' hotness factors (a pursuit slightly less demeaning than comparing girls to farm animals, which was the game he initially devised). The Web site is a huge success, gaining unheard of hits overnight. The next day Mark is approached by a pair of trust fund case twins (the aforesaid big men on campus) who want him to develop their pet project, an unsophisticated social networking Web site called Harvard Connect. Mark agrees, then avoids them for the next month or so to develop his own Web site: The Facebook (an endeavor which does not involve using Harvard Connect code). The brainchild is Mark's, but the start-up money and financial savvy belong to his best (and only) friend, Eduardo. The way Mark sees it, people are even more interested in finding out stuff about people they know than they are in finding out stuff about celebrities. More particularly, guys want to know if certain girls have boyfriends without having to make fools of themselves, and The Facebook facilitates garnering such information. Apparently, Mark's one of those geniuses who knows how to capitalize on what people want despite being the world's worst people person. Meanwhile, Eduardo has been invited to pledge the hallowed Phoenix club, a fact that exacerbates Mark's sour grapes, causing him to quip, "You'll never get in." (In this, Mark turns out to be wrong.)

What happens next is kind of anticlimactic. As The Facebook (the "the" isn't dropped until later) gains popularity, Mark and Eduardo begin to argue about the direction of the project. Eduardo wants to host ads to generate revenue, but Mark doesn't, reasoning that doing so too soon would compromise the integrity of the site. Then Napster creator Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake -- who else?) gets involved, and things begin to escalate before the inevitable plummet. Interestingly, Mark isn't in Facebook to make money. He's more invested in hosting a party that everyone wants to go to, with certain hopefuls being "shut out" via rejected friend requests (similar to the way in which he was shut out from those exclusive clubs, although he never puts this into words). To be sure, Sean agrees that launching ads before it's time is like throwing the coolest party of the year and then sending everyone home at 11:00. In one of the movie's most compelling lines, Mark says to Eduardo, "You want to shut the party down!" (Just for the record, I think the most compelling line is uttered by Eduardo as he heads out to the Facebook offices by Mark's invitation. It went something like this: "I didn't know if I'd been invited to the meeting or the party, so I dressed for both." Random, I know, but it seemed markedly funny to me in a deadpan way set against the movie's otherwise humorless backdrop.)

As a thinker and fellow creative type, I respected Mark's vision and his commitment to his project. He'd dreamed up something big, and in his own weird way, he was true to it. But he wasn't a very nice guy, and on more human grounds I didn't like him at all. Not the way he trashed his ex-girlfriend online or the way he took $19K of his best friend's money for start-up fees and then cheated him out of his shares (on the very night when poor hapless Eduardo was wondering if he'd been invited to California to crunch numbers or party down). Movies in which you can't root for the main character are always difficult to enjoy, and The Social Network was no exception. It was informative and engaging in an academic sort of way. But it was in no way the kind of stirring human drama I'd anticipated. I'd been ready for Internet-bred social upheaval (in "You wrote what about me on Facebook?!" fashion) and a classic little guy against big, bad corporate (or in this case, academic) America tale. What I got was a dry documentary headlined by a misanthrope in a hoodie.

So, I Canceled My Twitter Account

Here's a nice beachscape. Because posts without pictures are boring, and I wanted to treat you to something tranquil.

But back to the topic at hand. You read the title right. The Tote Trove has sent its last tweet.

Initially, I joined Twitter as a means of marketing my business (like countless Etsy sellers before me). Experimentally, I began releasing my little updates into the world. "I just ate a grilled cheese sandwich!", "I made a JELL-O key lime pie!", and "York peppermint patties are my favorite candy!" were typical of the types of things I'd write. (Obviously, a love of carb-loaded food features prominently in my life.) I picked up a few followers here and there. Then I heard about that Tweetlist thing, where you follow tons of people at once by selecting your interests (mine were always fashion and art related). My following grew. I'd read each potential follower's profile, always following back as long as the person didn't seem like a pervert or criminal. Sometimes I'd get those canned direct messages saying things like, "Thanks for the follow! Reduce your body fat by 50% in a week with our delicious and nutritious organic spinach shake!" But this was the worst that ever happened.

After a while I got bored with all of this. I eventually set up my Facebook fan page (also established solely for business purposes) so that everything I posted automatically popped up on Twitter. (All of my Facebook posts, by the way, are just links to these blog posts. You can tell I have little patience for the finer points of social networking.) This was ingenious because it meant that I never had to visit my Twitter page at all. And I didn't. At least not until the other night when I deigned to log on to broadcast my latest blog giveaway. And that's when I saw it. A string of obscene tweets from some follower of mine. They weren't meant for me (at least I don't think they were; I'm still sketchy on the exact workings of Twitter). But seeing them on my page was reason enough for a mini freak-out, and I canceled my account immediately. I mean, who knows how many other such messages were poisoning my Twitter feed?!

This experience has nourished the germ of doubt I've been trying to squash regarding social networking. Although it's fun meeting other artists online and important to spread the word about The Tote Trove, I think I should have listened to my instincts regarding Twitter. (Or at least monitored my followers more closely; but who has the time for that?) Then again, I don't think Twitter was doing me any favors marketing-wise. As for Facebook, I'm still on the fence.

Before you even think it, I'm not getting rid of this blog. Although it's a form of social networking, it's not in the same category as Facebook and Twitter. At least not to me. It's a way for me to write. Really write, that is, not just inform the world that a pasta dinner is impending.

Speaking of which, I think it's time for lunch . . .

Book Report: The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin

My sister (an art teacher) loaned me The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin recently. It's a handy little guide that covers all the finer points of selling handmade goods online, at craft fairs, and to shops. It also expounds upon marketing tools like social networking and practical, must-know information such as state sales tax laws. Although I already knew most of this stuff, I found the book to be compulsively readable. It reminded me why I got all excited about marketing my work in the first place. I'd recommend it to anyone just setting up shop, especially people who don't have a support network (such as the illustrious and ever-helpful EtsyNJ street team, to whom I direct all my burning questions).

I think my favorite part of the book was the section on blogging. Chapin sites blogs as the most potentially powerful marketing tool at a crafter's disposal. She also wrote that no matter how professional a crafter intends for his or her blog to be, personal elements will inevitably creep in. Both tidbits warmed my heart, as I've long considered this blog to be the glue that holds The Tote Trove together. Sure, Facebook, Twitter, and Etsy are great. But you just can't beat a format that allows you to write about your creative process, inspiration, triumphs and setbacks, and, yes, your favorite ice cream flavor or that weird thing that happened to you on the subway. It's all this stuff that makes our art special, and documenting it all is an art in and of itself.

Blogging vs. Facebook

Yesterday I noticed that I have twice as many Facebook fans (48) as I do blog followers (24). My first thought was, that's weird. I never even update my Facebook page but blog almost every day, sometimes more than once a day. I prefer blogging because it allows me to write mini articles on almost anything. I can talk about my projects, movies, food, something I heard on the radio, or even what I wore that day. And by following other people's blogs, I can learn similar things about them. Facebook, by contrast, is designed for typing out quick one liners, as in, "Great new bracelet you made there!" or "Thanks for stopping by my booth at the (insert name here) craft show." There may be more of a dialogue going on, but in my opinion, there's less being said. Yet people love it. I mean, I have 48 fans (mostly because we Etsians love to send mass emails requesting that we fan each other, but you probably already knew that.) Does this mean that I should start updating my Facebook page? Should I copy my giveaways there, post my featured artist links there, write about new products there? Probably, much as it pains me to admit it. Quite frankly, I hardly have time to maintain this blog let alone another mode of social media. But it probably makes sense to use Facebook as another conduit for getting The Tote Trove out there, if only for promotional stuff. I guess. I mean, I'll give it a try, but I don't have especially high hopes. It's this blog, however, that will always be home base, my place to play with thoughts and topics that sometimes make no sense but are nonetheless part of this crazy Tote Trove journey. Because at the end of the day this blog is the chronicle of what I'm doing or trying to do or wishing to do, regardless of how many readers I have. It's my journal, my would-be novel, and my no-holds-barred column all rolled into one. And that's much better than any wall, don't you think?