Power
Power is among the key themes in The Social Network. Fincher introduces the theme in the opening scene, showing how Mark and Erica jockey for authority over each other during their argument. Mark condescends to her when he suggests that he can introduce her to a class of people she wouldn't otherwise get to meet as a lowly Boston University student. Erica quickly gains the upper hand by breaking up with him and denouncing his arrogance, suggesting that as talented and as successful as he may become, he will still be disliked for his personality. The theme of power arises again when Mark declines to admit fault to the disciplinary board after creating Facemash; instead, he insists that they should thank him for pointing out holes in their security. As Facebook grows in popularity, Mark's power grows with it. The power leads him to make blatantly unethical decisions, such as cutting Saverin out of the company by tricking him into signing away a significant portion of his stake. Having done so, Mark ensures that he holds more power than anyone else as CEO, and therefore doesn't have to abide by anyone else's wishes. Ultimately though, Mark's increasing power is not without an increase in enemies.
Aspiration
Another of the film's major themes is aspiration—the hope of achieving a goal. In the opening scene, Mark aspires to join a final club, an all-male social club akin to a fraternity. By getting into a final club, Mark would rise to a higher strata in the Harvard social hierarchy. When Mark receives no invitation to try out for any final clubs, he redirects his aspiration for power and prestige toward building Facebook, which he pitches to Eduardo as being like a final club they're in charge of. After meeting Sean Parker, Mark realizes he can become popular and powerful through success in the world of tech startups. Soon he apparently loses interest in the goings-on at the Harvard campus, moving the company to California before he has even finished his undergraduate degree. Ultimately, Mark achieves his goal of ascending the social hierarchy by becoming the world's youngest billionaire. But despite being seemingly insulated from the vulnerability that comes with being excluded, he still longs for the social acceptance he has yet to achieve.
Alienation
Alienation—the state of being isolated or estranged from a group one ought to be involved in—is another dominant theme in The Social Network. The theme first arises in the opening credit sequence when Mark takes a solitary jog across the Harvard campus back to his dorm. Although he covers a lot of ground and passes many people, Mark never stops to converse with any of his peers. In his dorm, he barely speaks to his roommates, preferring to air his thoughts online on his Livejournal blog. Mark's social isolation is emphasized through shots that juxtapose him hacking into campus student directories with other students out partying and enjoying themselves together. Although Mark longs for social acceptance throughout the film, he simultaneously self-sabotages by acting arrogant and unfriendly with people, thereby ensuring that people will not like him. In this way, Fincher invites the viewer to consider to what extent Mark's alienation is a product of his own behavior and to what extent it has been determined by people's treatment of him.
Misogyny
Fincher introduces the theme of misogyny—an ingrained prejudice against women—early in the film. Insulted by Mark’s condescending attitude, Erica dumps him and warns him that however successful he becomes, women will dislike him for being an asshole. Rather than prove her wrong, Mark displays his contempt for women by returning to his dorm to post to his blog about Erica being a "bitch" and claiming her bra size is too large for her breasts. He then creates a website that violates women's privacy and invites users to rank their attractiveness. In shots of people on campus learning about the website, Fincher contrasts images of men excitedly engaging with the content against images of women's concern and appalled reactions to seeing themselves objectified. While Mark gives a superficial apology for creating the website, he never displays genuine humility for his actions. If anything, Mark's misogynistic website aids his career by bringing him to the attention of the Winklevoss Twins, who hire him to build their website. From there, Mark creates Facebook and only gains greater insulation from having to abide by moral conventions.
Genius
Genius—exceptional creative or intellectual ability—is another dominant theme in the film. Fincher introduces the theme when Mark shows his above-average intelligence by easily hacking into campus computer systems while drunk. Mark's genius is also conveyed when his professor implies that he cannot solve the difficult equation on the board—an equation Mark answers on the spot without a problem. While Mark is shown to be a person of above-average intelligence, his ingenuity comes into question when he seems to steal the Winklevoss Twins' idea for an exclusive social networking website. Although Mark maintains a public profile as the tech genius wunderkind behind the world's largest social networking website, it is clear that he developed the idea based on contributions from various sources rather than coming up with it out of the blue. In this way, Fincher invites the viewer to look skeptically at the notion of solitary genius, and to consider how new inventions tend to be the result of ideas circulating among many minds.
Betrayal
Explored most overtly through Mark and Eduardo's relationship, betrayal is a major theme in The Social Network. The theme first arises when the Winklevoss Twins and Divya learn that Mark has created The Facebook, a social networking website exclusive to Harvard students. The idea is strikingly similar to the website he was supposed to build for them but that he stalled on creating; because of this, the twins and Divya believe Mark has acted duplicitously and betrayed the Harvard code of ethics. But Mark's betrayal of the twins and Divya is a mere precursor to his betrayal of Eduardo. Despite being one of his closest friends, Mark's increasing hunger for power leads him to trick Eduardo into signing away his third of Facebook shares. Eduardo responds to the betrayal by breaking Mark's laptop, but Mark remains cold in his reception of his former friend, telling Eduardo that he made a bad business decision, rather than admit that he himself acted unethically. Ultimately, Mark has to pay out millions of dollars to the people he betrayed while developing Facebook.
Social Acceptance
Alongside the theme of alienation is the related theme of social acceptance. Early in the film, Mark seeks social acceptance through admission to one of the campus final clubs. In the same scene, he is rejected by his girlfriend, who implies that his priorities are misplaced when she tells him that however successful he becomes, people will dislike him because of his personality. Although Mark is driven by subconscious self-sabotaging impulse that causes him to do things that cause people to dislike him, such as creating Facemash and stealing the Winklevoss twins' idea, he nonetheless longs for social acceptance among the campus mainstream. Mark later seems to give up on trying to get ahead on campus and devotes himself to growing Facebook, seeing tech startup success as a better way to attract women and impress powerful men. By the end of the film, Mark is the world's youngest billionaire and CEO of the world's largest social networking website. Ironically, he still longs for social acceptance—a longing symbolically conveyed through his eagerness to have Erica accept his Facebook friend request.