“The Social” (boomer). The second instalment of the Zuckerberg saga is now in cinemas.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The young Mark Zuckerberg, a solitary student who is unpopular with girls – one has just dumped him, as we see in real time, and that’s where it all begins – who invents Facebook. And the not-so-young Mark Zuckerberg, who finds himself facing extremely serious accusations: Facebook isn’t for making friends. Rather, it creates groups of like-minded people – and there would be nothing wrong with that in itself. But users receive personalised feeds, which reinforce their beliefs. Everyone sees the world differently, and that is never a good thing for those with malicious intentions. The company is happy – this is how loyalty is built, by giving space to, and even endorsing, the most delusional opinions. The first Mark Zuckerberg appeared in David Fincher’s film The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin. The second Mark Zuckerberg has just hit the cinemas, with the Italian title The Social – Il prezzo della verità. This too was written by Aaron Sorkin, who also directed it. To gauge the difference, the actor has changed: there was the likeable Jesse Eisenberg; now we have the more stern Jeremy Strong (who was in Succession, playing the brother who wanted to take his father’s place – though there were other sons, and a daughter who was sharper than all of them). And times have changed. Facebook is no longer a young and harmless social network. It is a colossus that has transformed our daily lives, and even the very meaning of ‘friendship’. The phrase ‘we’re friends on Facebook’ – even written in lower case – has become a catchphrase.

It is a giant, and as is often the case with such organisations, using a rather unfortunate term borrowed from advertising, it seeks to ‘build customer loyalty’: ‘You shall have no other network but this one’. So it plays along. It begins to give its subscribers what they want. What they want to hear. What confirms their beliefs – and if those beliefs are not exactly peaceful, so much the better. Hate creates stronger bonds than love. This continues until someone within Facebook realises it and begins to gather evidence to support this theory. The whistleblower is an employee, Frances Haugen. In 2021, she secretly contacts a journalist at the Wall Street Journal and explains what she has discovered. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is fully aware of the effects of this policy on teenagers; it knows that certain posts present anorexia as a role model, whilst others discuss self-harm.

“The Social – The Price of Truth” (note the silly Italian subtitle) tells the whole story, as well as the trial that followed. From that moment on, Facebook will change its name to Meta, adopting the infinity symbol. The social network that was once used to bring people with shared interests together has become a purveyor of alternative realities. This is the thesis of “The Social – The Price of Truth”. ‘The Reckoning’ – as in the original title – would rather mean a settling of scores. The trouble began with the introduction of newsfeeds – information universes tailored to the customer. This is what we’ve become: customers to be satisfied, indulged and pleased. The first American reviews of “The Social – Il prezzo della verità” range from a dismissive “Ok Boomer” to the scathing comment: “Aaron Sorkin is coming to terms with his own bubble”. Some point out that the verve of director David Fincher is missing: certainly, but it’s equally certain that Aaron Sorkin is better at writing than at directing. Put less politely, in Slant Magazine: “Aaron Sorkin the director fails to bring out the brilliance of Aaron Sorkin the screenwriter”. Certainly, investigations in the internet age don’t translate too well to the big screen.