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The Soundtrack to Social Media: What Mark Zuckerberg Was Listening to When He Was First Developing Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg shares exactly what it sounded like while he was coding and creating Facebook— and it’s not quite like ‘The Social Network’.

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Social media has become a primary fixture in our daily lives. Nowadays, it even feels a bit overwhelming how many apps and websites you can use to engage with people. There are forums like Reddit, as well as servers and chat rooms like Discord. Then there’s your tried-and-true options like X (FKA Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Lastly, there’s Facebook, the baby created by Mark Zuckerberg and the juggernaut that helped bloom the social media landscape we know today.

Anyone who has read Zuckerberg’s story or seen The Social Network enough times knows the story by now. In February 2004, out of his Harvard dorm, he launched Facebook alongside his roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. Despite scorning fellow schoolmates and his roomies alike, he became a billionaire at 23 years old. Now, many lawsuits later, Mark Zuckerberg is still devouring the social media landscape, combining the forces of Facebook and Instagram to create an empire.

However, every empire has its soundtrack. The Social Network will have you believe that creating Facebook sounds like Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Even though the vibe feels right when listening to the score and watching the film, Zuckerberg actually shared exactly what he was playing in that Harvard dorm room back in the early 2000s. Given the time period, it makes all too much sense.

Mark Zuckerberg Reveals What He Was Jamming While Coding Facebook

On an Instagram story, Zuckerberg shared a brief, five-song playlist as a glimpse into what he was playing while coding Facebook. With a blue shirt, chunky headphones, and a middle finger to the camera, he was mostly playing the popular angsty rock songs of the moment. Take the meat-headed “Headstrong” by Trapt or the howls from Audioslave on “Like a Stone”.

Surely, even Mark Zuckerberg could get in his feelings, even while coding. Consequently, the melodramatic one-hit wonder Hoobastank and their massive song “The Reason” also makes an appearance. Of course, 2003 and 2004 are not complete without a healthy dose of Linkin Park. Naturally, the fiery “In The End” is also on the playlist.

Lastly, perhaps the most fitting installment on the Mark Zuckerberg playlist is the kind of song you imagine hearing while going ham on the computer. Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” bookends the crop of coding jams—robotic and probably trancelike when you’re in the thick of it all. Regardless of what you feel is the best here, it’s undeniably early 2000s core.

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