Facebook Files $5 Billion IPO, Values it at Nearly $100 Billion

[twilyth]

Hate to say it but Facebook may be around to stay for a while. Technology only phases out as other better things make it obsolete. Facebook changes with the times very well. And barring some catastrophic business model disaster, it has one valuable commodity: LOTS OF LOYAL USERS.

Yes and no. A lot of people actually get roped into the online games like Farmville because your success in the game often depends on what your friends playing the game do. I read an excellent explanation of this a few weeks ago. The person got invited to play Farmville and didn't feel able to leave without hurting their friends. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was from a journalist and was very convincing.

I don't know how many people are on FB only for the purpose of getting friends off their back, but I suspect it's a decent sized number. If so, you're not going to make much money off of those people.

Another thing to keep in mind if you're an investor is the fact that technically, if you use the SEC definition of what constitutes a "private company", FB hasn't been "private" in a while. The SEC requires companies with more than 500 shareholders to go public. FB got around that rule by selling shares to corporate entities that then repackaged the shares to sell to investors. I may have some of the details wrong, but the bottom line is that a lot more than 500 people have an existing financial interest in FB (other than just employees) and those people stand to make a lot of money depending on how the IPO is valued.

 

[Ammonite]

And barring some catastrophic business model disaster, it has one valuable commodity: LOTS OF LOYAL USERS.

Thats true.

The only current issues I can think of that might damage that is the continued cheapening of their privacy and security. Brand loyalty can be pretty strong though, and FaceBook sure is huge.

 

[pr0n Inspector]

Systems like IRC and forum software are practical and have been picked up by billions of people for millions of websites, used because there is no better alternative.

FaceBook is just a novelty act that resides on a single website, its best practical use being ways for companies to connect and market to a large online audience (hardly useful for the end user). Sure, its embedding itself into people's lives, but so did MySpace and all that other junk that has since dried up and become nothing like its former self.

All it'll take for FaceBook to die is another person bettering it, or people getting bored of it.

And that Facebook killer would still be a social network/media. It's a new way of communicating, just like how centralized forums is a new way of doing what people used to do in newsgroups.

 

[Ammonite]

And that Facebook killer would still be a social network/media. It's a new way of communicating, just like how centralized forums is a new way of doing what people used to do in newsgroups.

I can see where you are coming from and I agree for the most part. However social networking, unlike other forms of "communication", is heavily aimed at a teenage young adult audience, as it was originally built for. This doesn't mean it can't be successful, but it will stop it from developing into something more than novelty and entertainment as far as I'm concerned.

Having been part of FaceBook for a few years, I can safely say it only helped marginally when it came to meaningful contact with friends and family. I'm not better or worse off than I was now I've deleted my account.

What do you think when you hear the word FaceBook? For me its: farmville, spamming of the 'like' button, and status updates usually consisting of bad jokes or pointless information. That speaks for itself.

Does this mean it will die eventually? Maybe not, but I sure hope it will.

 

[w3b]

IPO not worth it IMO

I personally don't see much more potential in facebooks future that'll increase it's value significantly enough to make these shares a worthwhile purchase (a few years too late Mark), especially as more people leave Facebook (I wouldn't mind seeing those figures on account deletions; deleting an account is much easier than it was when I left a few years ago [name was real, the rest of my details however ] ).

 

[Deleted member 3]

how could they make such profit, are people really so stupid to buy extras and premiums in facebook games for money?

Facebook knows what you do all day, they know what you like, they know what you want. Other large companies care about this data and pay well for it. Though valuing it at 5 or 100 billion USD is a completely different story. Google does the same, our privacy is their main business.