Objective Summary #2

In chapters 13-22 in The Accidental Billionaires, Ben Mezrich discusses the changes in Mark Zuckerberg’s life immediately after Facebook was launched. Mark becomes instantly popular with girls around Harvard after the success of Facebook, something that is new to him. However, Mezrich emphasizes that not all the attention Mark is getting is positive; Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss hear about the launch of Facebook and believe Mark stole the idea of Facebook from them. 

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss

The Winklevoss brothers argue that since Mark was helping them on a social media site prior to starting Facebook, he stole their idea. Mezrich reports that the Winklevoss brothers even hired lawyers and talked with Larry Summers, the president of Harvard, in hopes of punishing Mark. Mezrich points out that both Summers and the lawyers are unable to punish Mark because there was no written legal agreement between Mark and the Winklevoss twins. Meanwhile, Eduardo is focused on making money off of Facebook, something that Mezrich argues Mark is not interested in. While in New York meeting with potential investors, Eduardo and Mark meet with Sean Parker, someone interested in helping run Facebook who has made multiple other social media sites. Mezrich concludes with Mark moving to California over the summer to run Facebook while Eduardo is going to New York for an internship.      

Topic: Social Media

 

Essential Question: Has social media negatively affected society?

 

Claim: Social media has negatively affected society.

 

Popular Social Media Sites

 

Reason: Social media has allowed us to connect with anyone in the world with the touch of our finger; however, it was not meant to substain deep personal interactions between people. Facebook, one of the world's most popular social media sites, was originally created to allow college students to hook up with one another, not to allow people to constantly interact with one another on an intimate level. As humans, we are progammed to have relationships with family and friends face to face, not through social media on a screen.  

 



Objective Summary

In chapters 1-12 of The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, Mezrich examines how Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook and other social media sites prior to Facebook. Zuckerberg, who Mezrich implies was an outsider while at Harvard, befriends business major Eduardo Saverin.

Zuckerberg, left, with his roommates at Harvard

Meanwhile, fellow Harvard students Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss along with Divya Narendra are creating a social media site called HarvardConnect but are struggling with the computing aspect of it. After being rejected by a girl, Mezrich states that Zuckerberg starts Facemash, a site to vote on which girl is hotter, by hacking Harvard's security and stealing pictures. Zuckerberg then gains a school wide reputation of being a computer genius. Mezrich notes this catches the attention of the Winklevoss twins and Divya, who enlist in Mark's help with HarvardConnect. At first, Zuckerberg is interested in helping but suddenly quits the project. Muzrich concludes with Mark and Eduardo starting their own social media site called Facebook.


Mezrich, Ben. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. New York: Doubleday, 2009. Print.

Discussion Question Blog Post 3

Analyze Emma's relationship with Cody.

Emma's relationship with Cody will not last because she is changing herself to be with him. Emma tries to impress Cody by lying about her personal interests and to make them similiar to Cody's. Emma also uses Facebook, which shows her the future, to learn more about Cody's life. For example, Emma sees on Cody's facebook page that even 15 years into the future, he is able to quote the movie Wayne's World and decides to watch it even though she is not interested in it. "Josh and I couldn't believe how stupid it was. But if Cody can quote Wayne's World fifteen years from now, and if I want to move things along with him, I need to get my hands on that movie as soon as possible" (265). Emma's relationship with Cody will never work out because she is changing herself to be with him. She is lying to herself about Cody because she is in love with the idea of being with Cody. Emma fails to realize the only things they can talk about is about what she saw on Facebook and his interests that she pretends to like.

Emma has a bad relationship with Cody.

Discussion Question Blog Post 2

Discuss if knowing the future is helping or hurting Emma in the present.

The Future of Us

Knowing the future is harmful to Emma in the present because she is put in difficult positions knowing others' future and not telling them. In The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, teenagers Josh and Emma discover their future Facebook pages. At first Emma and Josh are excited to learn how their lives will turn out; however, Emma is disappointed with the life she will have. Emma also discovers the futures of her friends, especially her best friend Kellen who becomes pregnant during high school. Emma is uncertain if she should tell Kellen, and how to explain to her if she does. "But how can I sit by and watch Kellen become a teen mom? She wants to go to Penn State, and dreams of becoming a doctor or a scientist. Can she do all that with a baby screaming in the background? She might not even be able to finish high school" (174). Emma is unsure how to handle this. She will blame herself for not stopping it if she lets it happen, but she will also feel guilty if she changes Kellen's future in such as drastic way. Emma is placed with the burden of knowing the future, but being unsure of how to change it. Emma is constantly worrying how certain actions will affect the future and is unable to enjoy the present.

Tech Firday 3/7/14

Fiction Writing 3/5/14

Discuss weather or not Emma should have changed her future by calling Jordan, her future husband.

16 year old Emma is able to see her faebook page
15 years into the future.

Emma should not have changed her future on purpose because she is changing her life in major ways based on a single post she saw on her Facebook page. In The Future of Us, Emma and Josh are able to see their future Facebook pages, which show them who they will marry, their jobs, and where they will live. Emma is shocked to learn that her life is worse than she expected, and meanwhile Josh has the seemingly perfect life. In a split second decision, Emma decides to track down her future husband, Jordan, to prevent them from meeting in the future. When Emma calls Jordan, she learns they will meet at Tampa State College, Emma's top college choice. After learning she meets Jordan at Tampa State, Emma decides not to even apply there. "As I hold the phone against my ear, I actually feel sad. In the future, Jordan and I were supposed to meet at college and get married. Now we'll probably never even know each other" (129). Emma is willing to go to extreme lengths to prevent her marriage from failing. Emma's parents divorced when she was young, and she is scared she will end up like her mom, who has had multiple failed relationships. When Emma changed her future, she also changed all the good times she was able to have with Jordan and at Tampa State College. Emma should not have changed her future by calling Jordan because if she is constantly thinking of the future, she will forget how to enjoy the present. 

Tech Friday 2/28/14

Facebook

Tuesday Write 12

Malcolm Gladwell bases his research on the idea that everything is not what it appears to be. He is able to come up with revolutionary ideas by looking closer at everything from spaghetti sauce, to bombsights, and to the Biblical story of David and Goliath. First, Gladwell looks at the work of Howard Moskowitz, a food psychophysicist who created Prego's chunky spaghetti sauce. Gladwell concludes from Moskowitz's research of spaghetti sauce that people do not truly know what will make them happy. 

 

Next, Gladwell discusses the Norden bombsight. The Norden bombsight was used in an effort to reduce war causality by making bombs more accurate. However, in battle the Norden bombsight was difficult to use and ultimately failed to reduce the number of unnecessary deaths. Gladwell describes the Norden bombsight by saying, "it is harder to find the pickle barrel than it is to bomb the pickle barrel," suggesting the Norden bombsight solved the wrong problem. Gladwell also looks at the story of David and Goliath. Galdwell is intrigued by the idea that everything he thought he knew about the story was wrong. By looking closer at the story, Gladwell comes to the conclusion Goliath, not David was the underdog. Finally, Gladwell observes the Warren Harding presidency.

Warren Harding

Gladwell hypothesizes people used a snap judgment on Harding based on his looks, which led to his election despite the fact he was under qualified.  The underlying theme in each Gladwell's research is there is much more to a story than meets the eye. 

At lunch at SRVHS, most students eat lunch in the same area and seem to grow attached to it. I find this interesting because students are able to eat wherever they want on campus but choose the same spot each day. People may sit there because it is in the sun, they may like the scenery by them, or their friends are also there; however, it may be because they are familiar with that spot and it is one the few things that are consistent in their life.