What does all this mean? If there wasn’t enough talk about Facebook already on the web, this week has seen a new wave of news stories, blogs, press releases and the like, pop up in every corner of the online world with chatter focused on the company being listed on the stock market with an Initial Public Offering, or IPO. The sale is set to happen very soon, and although an official date hasn’t been announced rumours are that it will take place this Friday the 18th of May.
With social media, and perhaps more importantly social media marketing, being such big business these days, it will be interesting to see just how this will unfold Between predictions of how much money will be made, the effect it will have on Facebook users and everything in between, it seems everyone is keen to have their say and give an opinion on what will happen come Friday.
Here are some interesting articles we’ve noticed: Changes on their way With a huge sum of money about to be injected into Facebook, it’s only logical to expect changes. Whether branching out into new products, putting more effort into their search engine (finally?) or perhaps simply focusing on wiping out the competition, there’s little doubt we’ll be seeing a lot of growth and development over the next few years. GMA News Privacy concerns growing As the Facebook machine continues to grow both its online presence and money making power, fresh fears have risen over the likelihood of users’ privacy being compromised. With the potential for making a lot more money just a few policy changes away, users with concerns may need to keep a close eye on this to protect their information. Mercury News
Is this a case of founders and investors selling stock before it starts losing value? This is a great post listing 13 reasons why Facebook is approaching its peak as a profitable company attracting fresh investment (and users). There’s a few very interesting posts raised as well as a few comparisons to the likes of Myspace and Groupon which really do support this theory. Huffington Post The state of California to make an expected $1.5 Billion in taxes. A guaranteed winner here (aside from existing shareholders and Mr Zuckerberg of course) is set to be the state of California. The state has been having financial difficulties in recent times and news of this sale will certainly put a smile on some government faces, with a staggering $1.5 billion in taxes expected to be paid over the next financial year. Seattle Times
The one thing that seems certaing out of all of this, is simply that there WILL be changes of some sort happening in the near future, and we can't wait to see what they will be!
