Facebook IPO, Yadda, Yadda Yadda

OK, here’s the Facebook IPO.  It’s here.  We knew it was coming.  We’re all waiting to analyze the results, and see how many of us have been humiliated.

So first, let me go with my take on this.  Thus I am prepared for humilation.

  • I don’t see it as a long-term investment.  I’ve seen too many companies come and go – Facebook has to become “infrastructural,” and I’m not sure they’ve done it enough to maintain it.
  • Can Facebook become “infrastructural?”  Yes, but I think they’re aiming to be “everything.”
  • Facebook seems new, some of it’s not – it’s a social integration site, and that used to be called “Prodigy” and “AOL.”  That’s fine, but I’m not sure this model can quite work income-wise in the modern age.
  • I think Facebook does have enough money and energy to refocus itself to be a success and validate (or expand) it’s stock prices.  My fuzzy vision for it is a kind of integrated social services company with various income streams.
  • Facebook could “over generalize” itself to become about so much it’s not about anything.  It could then split into several business lines.  This would be interesting to watch.

Now, from around the net as of this morning:

- Steven Savage

 

Steven Savage Steven Savage (2027 Posts)

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at http://www.stevensavage.com/.


  • Ashley Chappell

    I’m really interested in your last thought about splitting into business lines. With Facebook use so often being an issue in the work place I have to wonder if FB wouldn’t benefit from launching a line aimed at strictly professional networking in which you could establish a professional and informative FB profile. It could even link to your social profile and update your bio information (location, work, education, etc) automatically, providing that you could determine for yourself exactly how much of that information is shared between the profiles. 

    Do you think that FB could push sites such as LinkedIn out of the professional market using a model such as this?

    • Steven Savage

      Actually they could just BUY them if they raise enough cash.  It’d be almsot easier.

      If Facebook is smart they’ll become a kind of social web infrastructure, and perhaps even spin off and acquire appropriate services.  I’m not sure they’re thinking that far ahead.

  • http://www.genjipress.com/ Serdar (GenjiPress)

    My feeling is that this is the beginning of the end. Now Facebook is beholden to absolutely nothing but its stock value, and will do anything to increase it in the eyes of its shareholders.