Facebook: The Social and the Anti-Social Network

Hollywood has paid the ultimate compliment to Mark Zuckerberg by making The Social Network, a film about him and the phenomenon of Facebook. We'll let audiences draw their own conclusions about the movie. What matters is what it symbolizes. Zuckerberg's "friends" now number a half billion, the major example to date of social networking on the Internet. What is "social networking?" Does it enhance and encourage the same kinds of human connections we find in real life, or does it do something else? Is it changing the way people think about themselves and their relations with others? What does it mean for the news media and commercial marketing? Are new protections required because of the anonymity provided for sociopaths or for casual users who don't know the power of social networking?