Is this a movie with four subplots braided together and no main plot? What part of the movie is left out of this schematic that would constitute the A plot?

@Annika: I would look at the actual birth, development, and growth of Facebook as the Plotline. Obviously the subplots plug into the main plot from time to time, but in terms of the major plot points, they are tied primarily to what transpires with Facebook's growth.

I really like Annika's question. Your answer is right, of course, but I wonder if The Social Network is using four braided plots as a way to tell one big story that could easily be too dry or vague. Is it wrong to think of that as a useful device? Four braids to make a rope?

@Amos: Not at all wrong. One of the beauties of narrative structure is the endless variety of ways you can use subplots. For example, you can look at Pulp Fiction comprised of a series of subplots that exist pretty much on parallel tracks except when they intersect here or there. Contrast to Black Swan which is a more 'traditional' approach -- a Plotline (Nina vying for, getting, training for, then performing the lead role in Swan Lake) supported by several subplots (Nina-Thomas, Nina-Lily, Nina-Erica, Nina-Beth).

I thought the actual development of Facebook might be the A plot... but couldn't remember any scenes that illustrated that specifically. Usually, in the middle of another scene, there was a line like "Wow - we just hit 100,000 users!" or "Thanks for the money, Eduardo, but Facebook needs even more." So - maybe because it isn't a visual thing, or even a necessarily dramatic thing, to see Facebook grow, I felt those beats were buried throughout the movie in subplot-dominant scenes and never stood on their own legs.

I think Scott nails it with: "...they allow you to cross cut parallel action with the Plotline creating a much more entertaining narrative experience."

IMO, Mark Zuckerberg and "The Social Network" will be to the 2010 decade what Gordon Gecko and "Wall Street" were to the 1980s. Where aspiring movers & shakers of the 80's refined their suspender snapping while watching Gecko declare "greed is good," a new generation of m&s is stocking up on hoodies & flip-flops and practicing the most in-your-face way to add $1,000 and $18,000. tSN will be an iconic film. Word for the day: Zuckerbee. A Mark Zuckerberg wannabee. A person who, after watching tSN, starts imitating MZ.

@77kart: I disagree. This movie won't be remember in the next twelve months. For while it is well written and acted, it is essentially a courtroom drama told in flashbacks. Sorkin should've produced a cleverer narrative structure.

I agree with Eve. I liked TSN while I was in the theater, but "forgot" it about a week later.

I disagree with both previous posters. I think you're just not movers or shakers in the high tech industry and hence don't get it. As for the quality of he narrative, I think you're outvoted by AMPAS, BAFTA, WGA, National Board of Review, LA Film Critics, Golden Globes, etc. Or maybe they're all wrong and you're right.