If last night’s Golden Globes were any indication, Facebook has become so prevalent in American society, entertainment, and business that Google and Microsoft may want to consider enlisting Hollywood’s A-list if they hope to stay relevant in 2011.

The Social Network – or so-called “Facebook Movie” – swept the Golden Globes, winning not only the Golden Globe award for Best Picture but also collecting Best Director (David Fincher), Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin), and Best Original Movie Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). The Social Network is a fictionalization of the story of Mark Zuckerberg’s invention of Facebook while a student at Harvard, the tumultuous relationships that arose in his fight for fame and fortune, and the ultimate success of Facebook. There are differences between the movie Facebook and the real life Facebook, but for the most part, the movie answers the burning question on the minds of what is now over 500 million Facebook users: how the hell did this thing start?

So how the hell did a movie about Facebook clean house at the Golden Globes, instead of the epic, mind-blowing (yes, i’m censoring) Inception? Facebook impacts everybody and their grandmother – every individual, every business, every news medium, every celebrity; anyone wanting to say something and reach somebody has a place on Facebook, with an audience that will listen. It’s very likely the voting members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) are on Facebook just as much as the rest of us. A $94 million grossing movie about Facebook acknowledged we care and that we are so curious we will spend our hard earned cash to step away from Facebook and listen to its story. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the story is a classic American tale of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

The real kicker is that the HFPA acknowledged that the movie was not only good and provided value in and of itself, but that it represented something we need – Facebook – and needed – the story. I’m not convinced the movie itself deserved to sweep the Golden Globes. Industry awards always have some political meaning and pander to the interests of the voters, particularly in the case of the Golden Globes. If the sweep of awards at the Golden Globes by the Social Network has any meaning it’s that Facebook has embedded itself in our lives far more obtrusively than some give it credit for. Paired with TIME magazine’s award to Mark Zuckerberg for 2010′s person of the year, the media and entertainment industry has acknowledge the power of Facebook in our lives; it truly is everywhere and affects every part of our lives.

For those still questioning Facebook’s dominance and commitment to endurance, they may want to consider how many other “startups” have recruited almost the entire web-connected American society (along with a large chunk of the rest of the world), profited from the relationships between each segment of users, and yet continually acquiesce serious privacy concerns that draw parallels between Facebook users and sheep.

The question The Social Network answered may have been one we all wondered, how the hell did this start? How did we end up with such an addictive, amazing, powerful, yet awesome website that we can’t walk away from? But as the The Social Network swept the Golden Globes, and now looks like a front runner for several Academy Awards, the question is really – how the hell did this happen?