'West Wing' creator may be writing movie about Facebook

August 28, 2008 (Computerworld) A new Facebook profile created for Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin claims that he has agreed to write a movie about the invention of Facebook Inc.'s popular social network.

"I understand there are a few other people using Facebook pages under my name -- which I find more flattering than creepy -- but this is me," the profile notes. "I don't know how I can prove that, but feel free to test me."

The profile says that Sorkin, who created the West Wing television series, has agreed to write the movie for Sony Pictures and producer Scot Rudin. Sorkin also admits on his profile that he doesn't yet know how Facebook works.

"I figured a good first step in my preparation would be finding out what Facebook is, so I've started this page," the page says. "Actually, it was started by my researcher, Ian Reichbach, because my grandmother has more Internet savvy than I do, and she's been dead for 33 years."

Sorkin goes on to urge Facebook users to send him questions and leave comments, which many have done. Sorkin has written two Broadway plays and several feature films, including A Few Good Men, Malice and Charlie Wilson's War.

Some in the blogosphere questioned whether Sorkin can successfully write a compelling movie about Facebook.

Stan Schroeder, a blogger at Mashable, noted that Sorkin's admission that he doesn't understand Facebook doesn't bode well for the plan. "It's not entirely clear whether he wants to create a movie about the creators of Facebook (boring) or the actual users of the service (more boring), but neither sound like a good idea," Schroeder said. "Well, unless you want to watch developers do their thing for an hour and a half."

And Nick O'Neill, a blogger at AllFacebook, questioned whether Sorkin's Facebook profile is real.

"Aaron Sorkin prompts users to test to see if he is real in the group's description," he noted. "The only problem with accomplishing what would otherwise be an elementary task is that there is no way to 'friend' or send a message to Sorkin. The only other person that I know of that doesn't have a friend request in the directory is [Facebook founder and CEO] Mark Zuckerberg."