It seems that there is always a new story on what Facebook is up to this week and what new feature they’re rolling out next, but reports that the social networking company is planning an initial public opening (IPO) in February began circulating recently, and people can’t seem to stop talking about what it means.
With Facebook’s growth reaching well over the 800 million users mark, it would seem that the IPO is coming along quite late in the day. Social networks, although once the talking point of the web, are now the norm in a community joined together through online communication. However whilst some people can’t contain their excitement at the opportunity of having a share in the billion dollar corporation, others have no intention of getting involved.
Reports have placed Facebook’s value at a figure around $100 billion and when a company as large as this goes public, its value can only dwarf that of almost everything around it – including Google, which was valued at $23 billion at its time of IPO. If Facebook lives up to expectations and offers a 10% stake in the flotation later this year, it will become the biggest share on Wall Street, ever!
So is all the excitement worth it? Whilst Facebook is, undeniably, monumental in its reign, the buzz is moving on. Mobile devices, tablets, geo location networks and various other technology trends are taking off and Facebook is doing its best to keep ahead of the game.
By making Facebook a page that each user never needs to leave, the brand is making itself indispensable to its fans and as of last week this became even more apparent. With new apps reaching the newly rolled out timelines, users gained access to Ticketmaster, Rotten Tomatoes and Trip Advisor without ever having to log out.
Whilst it might suddenly feel like Facebook going public is happening over night, it’s been 8 years since Mark Zuckerberg created ‘The Facebook’ in 2004, and in that time he has repeatedly dodged questions on when he would offer stock. It would appear that now the IPO is imminent, investors are eager to see in which areas Facebook can continue to grow, and whether that growth can be translated into revenues and profits.
Ultimately the case for or against buying into Facebook comes down to whether it can further monetize its massive, non-paying user base. Regardless, there is good reason to be interested in investing in a website that does business with 1/7th of the planet, and Facebook fever, whilst perhaps not completely legitimate, is most certainly going to be fun to watch.