BaZynga! Facebook is now worth... wait for it... $104 billion dollars! Who loves dorm windows now eh? The amount is massive and seems even so considering the company started only 6 years ago. Over the course of 6 years 900 million users joined and a very good movie was made. Exceptional, in every sense of the word. Facebook is hot stuff now and despite facing lots of heat due to privacy concerns they still enjoy a loyal user base (I'm sure Facebook is open in the very next tab!).
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| Facebook, you've got company. |
I'm not sure if Zuck's outstanding success can last for a long time. The loyal user base I just mentioned isn't loyal by choice. They aren't hooked up to Facebook because it's cool. Lack of a decent alternative is the culprit. The 900 million users Facebook boasts of won't mind jumping the ship if a new cool social network comes up (Google+ is getting awfully close to that). People have been taken aback by Facebook's privacy policy and don't trust the network any more. Facebook is one cock up away from being doomed and in this industry things go from bad to total shit-storm in no time.
Facebook's growth is declining. They are still growing but their rate of growth is dropping by the day. There's not much room for Facebook to grow. When you've got nearly everyone on your site, you can't possibly get more.
A much graver issue is law. Before, when Facebook was small it didn't matter what happened on it as the sphere of influence was tiny. Now though, as a significant population is on the Facebook, Governments are losing sleep over what goes on the 'wall'. China has already joined the "No-Facebook" club and countries with sensitive geopolitical backgrounds will follow suit if the network (or the users) cross the metaphorical line.
Post-IPO Facebook is a real company. Regardless of the popularity Facebook will now have to churn profits, a responsibility that didn't burden them before. Their profits dropped in the first quarter of the financial year and despite of ad-ing up they fail to impress when it comes to profits and revenue. Facebook need something more than advertising to sustain themselves. General Motors only recently decided against advertising of Facebook after feeling that their ads weren't enough to woo customers. It would be wise for Facebook to realise this and one hopes for their sake that they have a plan in place.
That said Facebook have done a good job till now, there's no denying that. They have a considerable pool of talent which is intellectually capable of sustaining the company for the foreseeable future. The cash helps too.
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