First off let me apologize for this being 2 days late. I have a huge post it note on my fridge reminding me it was my week to start the discussion and it wasn’t until this afternoon that I saw the post it again and realized I was late. Mrs. Robinson is in desperate need of some snow days to get her act together. Over the past few weeks we have been discussing issues such as SOPA and even Pinterest. When I realized it was my turn to get the discussion started I went the CNN tech page. I felt like this was the best place to start and since CNN is such a trusted site it seemed like an excellent place to begin. I was amazed at how the entire site was swarming with Facebook gossip. I must really be out of the loop because I had no idea what any of this means. I typically use Facebook to spy on my sister and see what the neighbors are having for dinner. It’s completely a social thing for me. I knew there was a movie out and that Mark Zuckerburg was making millions but I didn’t understand what Facebook was covering the CN page. After some more investing and reading I discovered that Facebook has finally-as the article put it-decided to make the site public and your average Joe can begin to buy stock in the site.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/31/opinion/rushkoff-facebook-ipo/index.html?iref=obnetwork
I will be honest I don’t know much about buying stocks and the difference in public and private companies but what really overwhelmed me was fact that this IPO has taken over CNN. It’s a big deal. The more I read into the articles the more I realized that Facebook is no longer just a way to find out what your friends and family are doing. Below you will find the last few paragraphs from the article that state that Zuckerburg held off on this IPO for as long as he could.
“By all accounts, Zuckerberg was trying to delay this eventuality as long as possible. He knows that becoming the CEO of a public company will not be nearly as much fun, or as free, as running an Internet startup. However much we may not like his vision for our future, his primary purpose was to change the world. He wanted to create the operating system on which human social activity took place. What he has ultimately succumbed to, however, is the fact that Facebook was running on top of another operating system all along. Instead of revolutionizing our reality, by filing an IPO Mark Zuckerberg is finally getting with the program.”
Any comments on this, someone with more experience in stocks want to further explain. Basically, I am taking that we could all be part owners of FB if we wanted. This IPO is taking over CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/
At this point we normal people cannot buy the Facebook stock even if we wanted to. When the IPO is available only mutual fund companies and large brokerage houses can buy it - when it is available to the average trader, it will be very expensive. At this point it doesn't seem to be a good long-term stock because there are so many sites out there that are facebook-like that it is not a unique company, and it does not produce something we need - like an electric company. The only way to look at FB stock now is as a day-trader - buy it... watch the market as it increases, then sell it because it will probably fall.
ReplyDeleteThanks for clarifying this for us Renee!! If a trader watches it appropriately they could probably make a TON of money don't you think?
DeleteI too do not know much about stocks. I was also not aware of this inevitable change. However, I don't foresee myself buying stock in Facebook. I have never used Facebook other than as a social network. Even when Facebook started offering a place to purchase an ad to advertise your company or event I overlooked it. I do notice that people have taken advantage of the many new applications Facebook continues to offer. However, I have never been one to add a new application. I tend to decline if I've been invited to a version of a 'ville game or the like. I'm interested to hear others feedback about this post though since I strictly use Facebook as a social network to connect with friends and share pictures with family and friends. Could that just be my generation? If we think about it, Facebook is still fairly "new" and I joined when I got into college because that was the requirement at the time (in 2007).
ReplyDeleteWhat does everyone else use Facebook for? (Sorry if I changed the focus a little - now I'm curious!)
change away...I like what you mentioned about the advertizing...my sister-in-law used to not have FB, I always saw the ads on the side bars but never really paid attention to them b/c i never thought they were local ads. One day I was playing on FB and noticed her picture on one of the side bars-she is a dental hygentist and her dr.'s office had placed an ad on FB...it was neat. Now I pay much better attention to the ads since I know they are a bit more local!
DeleteI also use facebook for social networking. I am hoping now that facebook is selling its stock publically that maybe it will stop changing its format. It has always been very frustrating to me that every couple of years they change some sort of formatting. I understand that it is used to keep the site fresh and new but it also requires its users to relearn how to use it. I think that perhaps if these changes continue and as new sites develop then some of their users may switch over. How frustrated is everyone else with these new changes?
ReplyDeleteI still haven't been made to swtich to the new timeline layout yet...I thought it was going to be required-but they haven't caught me yet!
DeleteFacebook is so much more than social networking. Personally, I think it lost its soul when Zuckerberg opened it up to people without college email addresses. But hey I wouldn't turn down 500 million users either. Facebook is an incredible marketing tool (and is targeted by many companies) because it's unique. Users go to Facebook to check their newsfeed, see photos, give updates about their lives, stalk the cute girl from the Super Bowl party... you know, hanging out. And while they're hanging out, an add for a vacation swimming with dolphins pops up. It's not bothersome, it doesn't demand our attention, but it's there. And it's effective.
ReplyDeleteAs the article stated, Zuckerberg waited as long as he could before "selling out". He felt it was necessary in order to fulfill his ultimate goal of completely changing the way humans interact. He must feel it's the only way to get even bigger than "only" 1 in 14 people on the planet having an account.
I find this interesting that a tech company primarily focused on a social premise can open its IPO at over a billion dollars. This speaks to the power it has and its user base. However, Renee might also have a point that there are many alternatives out there – some better, some worse. But, I’d mention that these alternatives serve different purposes and interests altogether. So, as Facebook attracts a large consistent user base as casual social users this is the starting point for so many people. Facebook is joining the lexicon with the connotation of being “the place to be online”. It’s similar to how Google became a verb for so many people in our lexicon too.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Facebook becoming public, I’m not savvy on how the IPO process works or how the stocks work but the article did mention an important piece of this new puzzle they’re getting into: accountability. Just as Google can’t tout their 20% of play time to pet projects anymore, Facebook will be much more beholden to stockholders now.
Some of you have written about Facebook's social components but I use FB both in the classroom and for my business. I teach jazz improvisation studio at Juniata College where I have my students post weekly listening assignments on a Facebook page set up as a private group. Every week my students have to find jazz standards on Youtube that relate to what they are learning that week, i.e. several versions of a tune they are learning, tunes that fit a particular style or songs they want to learn in the future. By posting these finds on Facebook all the students taking my studio-- private, not group lessons-- have the opportunity to listen to what others are listening to. This facilitates communication between students who collaborate on end of the semester projects too. It also offers the opportunity for some community in a department that has no major at Juniata.
ReplyDeleteFor my business, I always create a Facebook event two weeks before I perform anywhere. I have found that it is the most effective tool for promoting my schedule.
As for the more social aspects of FB, I rarely use them.
In the last couple of years, my use of Facebook has changed dramatically. I used to keep my profile updated, posting recent pictures and updating my status. However, now that I have gotten older, I see it almost as an easy way to share too much information. I fear that a facebook profile could hurt my chances at a position for the future. So now, I hardly use Facebook to its full potential. I keep a basic profile and only use it to reach out to people via the private message function. Although I like having facebook, I would not see myself getting further invested in the website. All in all, I am not sure what going public will do to the site, but if others are like me, the site will eventually lose its excitement and will fade.
ReplyDelete