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It was called Facemash, and the idea behind it (according to the movie) was that comparisons were more 'turing' than arbitrary scores as used on "hot or not."

It was called Facemash, and the idea behind it (according to the movie) was that comparisons were more 'turing' than arbitrary scores as used on "hot or not." The characters' motives as presented in the movie might be fabrication or speculation (depending on your view of the true story) but they still make for a better and more tense story (imho).

bloomshed 16y ago
Facemash makes more sense I think I was misled by another comment I read, thanks. To an uneducated observer (that would be me and I cautiously assume most of the girls being compared on Facemash back then) girls were being evaluated on their physical appearance. That is not a noble pursuit. I completely agree with you about the motives of the characters in the movie being ultimately for the movie. I think a lot of people in this discussion are reading way too much into Sorkin and Zuckerberg. Anyone who seriously thinks Zuckerberg made facebook because he got dumped by a girl doesn't deserve acknowledgment. It was a mistake for Zuckerberg to even bring this up.
- stuhacking 16y ago
  > To an uneducated observer girls were being evaluated on their physical appearance. That is not a noble pursuit. Yeah, that's right. It was the execution that was referred to as 'Turing' rather than the notion that they were being compared by a metric other than looks. (I'm sorry if I'm being redundant here.) This is a reference to the Turing test, whereby, an observer holds conversations simultaneously with a human and computer counterpart over a network. The observer must attempt to identify the computer from the two conversations purely from the responses given. So it's the idea of putting two things side-by-side and choosing the more desirable... as opposed to simply assigning a number which is a little more arbitrary. I suppose on one hand he saw an idea that would become an instant success due to the simplicity of execution. You are right though: It's not a noble pursuit.

bloomshed 16y ago

Facemash makes more sense I think I was misled by another comment I read, thanks. To an uneducated observer (that would be me and I cautiously assume most of the girls being compared on Facemash back then) girls were being evaluated on their physical appearance. That is not a noble pursuit. I completely agree with you about the motives of the characters in the movie being ultimately for the movie. I think a lot of people in this discussion are reading way too much into Sorkin and Zuckerberg. Anyone who seriously thinks Zuckerberg made facebook because he got dumped by a girl doesn't deserve acknowledgment. It was a mistake for Zuckerberg to even bring this up.

stuhacking 16y ago
> To an uneducated observer girls were being evaluated on their physical appearance. That is not a noble pursuit. Yeah, that's right. It was the execution that was referred to as 'Turing' rather than the notion that they were being compared by a metric other than looks. (I'm sorry if I'm being redundant here.) This is a reference to the Turing test, whereby, an observer holds conversations simultaneously with a human and computer counterpart over a network. The observer must attempt to identify the computer from the two conversations purely from the responses given. So it's the idea of putting two things side-by-side and choosing the more desirable... as opposed to simply assigning a number which is a little more arbitrary. I suppose on one hand he saw an idea that would become an instant success due to the simplicity of execution. You are right though: It's not a noble pursuit.