Students looking forward to 'The Social Network' movie


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SALT LAKE CITY -- One minute after midnight Thursday, some theaters will have a special showing of a movie many fans can't wait to see.

It's called "The Social Network," and it's the story behind the creation of the popular Facebook website.

The movie is about how Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook while attending Harvard, and the challenges he had to get it going.

Zuckerberg started Facebook in his dorm room, eventually making him the world's youngest billionaire.

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"I'm jealous. I'm 26 too, and I'm not a billionaire," said Sean McCarthy, a student at the University of Utah.

McCarthy says he wishes he came up with the Facebook idea and knew how to start it. Instead, he says he mainly uses his room to cook and sleep.

However, thanks to Facebook, his friends know all about his cooking and sleeping.

"I have 139 friends, so I can keep in touch with a lot of my Georgia friends who have moved out of Georgia. It's really great as far as keeping in touch with people," said McCarthy.

Keeping in touch with friends seems to be the No. 1 reason why people use Facebook.

Plenty of students were using it at the university's computer lab when KSL stopped by Thursday.

"I've only had it for about a year, but I love it. I'm probably on it at least once a day, if not more," said Kari Ross, a senior at the school. "I just decided to get a Facebook page because so many of my friends were telling me I was the last person on earth without one."

The University of Utah has also created a Facebook page. Without one, the school says it would almost be left behind.

"It's something we kind of had to really learn quickly on the fly," said Andy Thompson, University of Utah's social media director. "It allows the public, your fans, to know what you're doing and to better communicate with you."


With 500 million users, Facebook is the world's largest social networking site.

However, the school has also had to implement policies regarding what is said on its Facebook page. Thompson says students should always be careful, too.

"You definitely want to self-censor yourself at certain times, and just know that it's going to be broadcast to the world," said Thompson. "If you don't want the entire world to hear what you have to say, if you don't feel comfortable with that statement, then maybe refrain from making that statement."

McCarthy says his friends tell him to take down certain pictures all the time.

"I've been yelled at by my friends, because they say my boss looks at my page," said McCarthy. "I haven't really been conscious of the whole censoring thing, so I'm going to have to change it before graduating and starting my career."

Ross says she keeps her page on private and only "friends" people she knows.

Still, even if you delete photos and comments, they're still out there, somewhere in cyberspace.

"I think it's important not just for a job, but for Internet safety as well to not post pictures that just everyone can see," Ross said. "I think more about my parents seeing them than my boss."

Ross also says she can't wait to see "The Social Network." "I'm interested in seeing it because there is a lot of controversy around how Facebook got started, which a lot of people don't know about," she said.

Thompson says it's amazing how just five years ago, no one had a Facebook page. Now, the site has 500 million members and a big-screen Hollywood movie.

"It's revolutionized the Internet, and therefore it's pretty much revolutionized our daily lives," said Thompson.

E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com

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