Imagine having a major Hollywood film made about your life while you’re still in your twenties. For Mark Zuckerberg, that surreal experience became reality with the release of “The Social Network” in 2010. During a recent podcast appearance, the Facebook founder shared candid thoughts about watching the Oscar-winning drama with his employees during its opening week.
“They nailed trivial details like my wardrobe choices and specific mannerisms,” Zuckerberg recalled. “But the core story about my motivations? Completely off-base.” The tech CEO specifically refuted the film’s portrayal of him creating Facebook to impress romantic interests, noting he’d already been dating future wife Priscilla Chan before launching the platform.
Behind the T-shirt: Zuckerberg’s recent podcast outfit choice held hidden significance – he wore the exact shirt actor Jesse Eisenberg donned in the film, purchased years later at auction. This sartorial callback appears intentional from the executive, who’s recently embraced a more polished public image.
The conversation turned to Zuckerberg’s controversial college project Facemash, often cited as Facebook’s precursor. “People conflate them because of the movie,” he explained. “Facemash was a two-day programming experiment, not some grand blueprint.” The site, which let students rate classmates’ attractiveness using scraped ID photos, drew campus outrage and disciplinary action.
When asked why he organized the company movie outing, Zuckerberg said: “I knew everyone would watch it anyway. Better we experience it together than have rumors spread.” This group viewing created an unusual bonding moment for early Facebook staffers as they watched a fictionalized version of their workplace origin story.
“The internet lets people rewrite history to fit their narratives,” Zuckerberg reflected. “After 20 years, some still believe the movie’s take over reality.”
While acknowledging the film’s artistic merits, Zuckerberg emphasized the disconnect between cinematic drama and his actual experiences: “I was just a kid figuring things out. The real story involves countless people and complexities no biopic could capture.”
