That Movie about that Facebook Guy

This weekend, The Social Network opened in theaters nationwide. You would have to be living under a rock not to know its Aaron Sorkin’s take on Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to Facebook power. Apparently, the Zuckerberg “character” comes off as a bit of a manipulative meanie . He double crosses his friends, actual human friends, and business partners to keep Facebook his baby. Whatever. Let’s face facts – the movie is gonna make a bejillion dollars.

I don’t have a Facebook account so I’m not Zuckerberg’s friend. I doubt I’ll fork over the $10 to see the film. Those two statements put me in smack dab in the public minority. In fact when I first heard a Facebook movie was in the works, I was tempted to place myself under house arrest. But love him or loathe him, (I’m rather apathetic to him myself) Zuckerberg tapped into something huge. The term “game-changer” is often frivolously tossed around in marketing circles. Facebook has been that in spades.

Indeed, it seems like social media is everywhere. Those of us in the performance marketing game understand its usefulness better than most to leverage audience engagement and enhance brand worth. While it’s true that Facebook has undergone its share of drama this year in lieu of privacy issues and “Open Graph” features, it is still a juggernaut that has helped drive campaign results.  And now it’s driving movie profit results. Good for Hoodie, though I’m sure he’s not going to “Like” his new cinematic fame.