Chief among these is the visionary himself. As portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, Zuckerberg is creepy, cold and underhand, motivated by a grudge at being excluded by the in-crowd and ditched by girls who (quite understandably) can't get behind his dead little eyes. Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the mover and shaker who got the venture capitalists on board, has some kind of flashy flair, but is at base intensely unlikable. The Winklevoss twins, who went on to row for Oxford in the Boat Race this year, embody to the point of caricature a snobbish Wasp entitlement. Whether they were right or wrong in pursuing Zuckerberg, it's impossible to want them to succeed. 

None of these people have any hinterland — not surprisingly perhaps, as they are all so young. They take themselves and their potential very seriously, in the way clever young Americans uniquely do. The world outside is just there to be manipulated. There is not, as I recall, an ounce of humour to be had. Nor is there style. The Social Network is being hailed as an emblematic movie for our times, much in the same way that Wall Street (the sequel to which has just appeared) was in the Eighties. Oliver Stone's film unwittingly became a celebration of that now much-reviled decade: it had a layer of interest supplied not just by the cut-glass clothes but by Michael Douglas's swaggering, colourful, even witty villain. People ended up wanting to be him. Other than dreaming of his billions, nobody surely could want to be Zuckerberg or any of these other utilitarian characters.        

When Wall Street appeared, the real party was already drawing to a close. Perhaps, too, Facebook has peaked? Maybe movies such as these are markers in the sand. Meanwhile, I'm left with emails informing me that somebody has just messaged me on Facebook, which in different times would have been like receiving a telegram from somebody saying they would be calling you in five minutes. 

Perhaps it's time to put the computer in sleep mode and leave the Tower of Babble behind.