Updated: There has been a lot of sound and fury lately about a Facebook IPO, with the Wall Street Journal saying the social network is expected to launch its public stock offering as soon as next spring, and the issue could give Facebook a market value as high as $100 billion. Not only would it be the largest technology IPO in U.S. history, but if the WSJ’s numbers are correct, it would give the company a market value comparable to General Electric. That would reinforce something that has already started to become clear: Facebook — for better or worse — has become a social utility, like the social web’s equivalent of a power company.
A Facebook IPO isn’t a done deal yet, of course. As the WSJ story and others have made clear, the current state of the stock market and the pummeling some other technology issues such as Groupon have received (the email-marketing service is currently down 42 percent from its issue price) could cause the social network to postpone its offering. Although the company has to start filing its financial results with securities regulators soon, because it has crossed the magic 500-shareholder mark, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will go public. Some have argued Facebook may never do an IPO, since it seems to have no problem raising billions from the private markets.
But in many ways, whether Facebook goes public or not is really beside the point. Whether the company’s real market value is $100 billion or $60 billion or somewhere in between, it has become a central part of people’s lives in a way that would have seemed almost unimaginable just a few years ago.
No longer just a plaything: a social utility
It seems like just yesterday Facebook was still seen as a plaything for university students, or a place to put photos. That was before Zynga showed Facebook could be a massive cash generator for social games (coincidentally, Zynga is also heading toward a public offering soon), and before websites of all kinds saw how much traffic and engagement they could generate by implementing the network’s “Facebook Connect” and open-graph plugins to add “like” buttons and other features. More than 7 million apps and websites use those plugins now, according to Facebook’s official stats.
Many of us have grown used to them, but the numbers behind Facebook are still mind-boggling when you step back and take a look at them: If its current rate of growth continues (and there’s no obvious reason why it shouldn’t), the social network could have a billion active users within a matter of months. According to some estimates, it will soon have more than 16 percent of the display advertising market — a number that’s also growing rapidly — and will likely generate ad revenue of close to $4 billion this year alone (just one of the reasons why Google is so determined to develop its own Google+ network as a competitor).
Although the growth of Zynga and social games is interesting, it was really just the precursor to a much bigger story: the integration between Facebook and a host of other services that have potentially much broader implications. Already, there are some apps — such as the music-sharing app Spotify — that will not work without a Facebook account. If you are determined not to belong to the network, you can’t use these services at all. That may not be a big deal right now, but what about when other more important services are also tightly integrated with a Facebook account?
Media companies such as the Washington Post and The Guardian, among others, have also integrated themselves into the social network in a fairly aggressive way: Instead of just using Facebook’s open-graph plugins to show users social relationships when they are at the newspaper’s website, they have created “frictionless sharing” apps that allow Facebook users to read and share their articles without ever leaving the network. That has benefits for the Post and Guardian in terms of engagement, but it also cements Facebook’s status as the default social destination and default social platform.
We expect much more of a utility than a simple social service
So what happens when Facebook is a social utility: the General Electric of the social web? Governments start trying to regulate the network in the same way they would a telecom company or an electricity provider — as the European Union and other jurisdictions are, particularly when it comes to privacy rules. And the policies of that utility become a lot more important than they were when it was just a simple service used by a few million university students. (Update: Facebook just announced that it has settled a privacy case with the Federal Trade Commission over changes to its privacy settings and its “opt out” policy. Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has a blog post about the settlement, and the FTC release is here).
That’s one reason why Facebook’s “real name” policy has caused so much controversy (which spilled over onto Google when it took the same approach with Google+). Requiring real names is fine when you are just one of many social services, and you want to cut down on trolling and other bad behavior. But what happens when your policy makes it impossible — or at the very least, dangerous — for dissidents in Egypt or China or other totalitarian states to use your platform for social good? The implications are profound, and it’s not clear Facebook has thought them through as much as it should.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote recently in The Economist that we are approaching a future where your online identity merges with what she calls your “authentic identity,” something Co-Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also argued is a natural evolution — and it’s pretty obvious Facebook sees this as a good thing. But is it? Those are the kinds of questions we will have to come up with answers for now that the company has become the General Electric of our social age. And the answers are far from obvious.
Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr users Ontario Power Generation
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury late… http://t.co/zGC3uEte #privacy
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/Sfed3XHM @amarchugg #news
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/L4v7p48P @amarchugg #news
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/ptU7F0bT
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/0zYCoBw7
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/OzlJkR9z
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/0ws4ZLMc
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/YyKpzRWJ
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/Drn4EY1M
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/HrvYHu27
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/3EDoWH3b
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/qncPhRHJ
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
There’s been a lot of sound and fury lately about … http://t.co/MCTVT1lX
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/2bd4m8G1
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/xkjHbJAt
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/ibjcjNyz
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/0aJpnwU7
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/wgNYmb4h
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/K0x9ko7n
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/pcTAKdVP
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/f7MR3qQU
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/b23zkeXj
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/32UfGO1F
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/Bob3iKkh
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/Sgp8MEah via Mathew Ingram
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/PFh9AFgw
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
RT @DFW_SocialMedia: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/6DavYlYV
“Has Facebook Become the General Electric of the Web?” http://t.co/oN1epqqx
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? – GigaOm http://t.co/mIjYtaxz
gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/tjUoop9H
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
Has #Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/qbzQ6E64
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/mAOR9OP1
Good article & I like the GE-FB comparison http://t.co/3bXEoPxv
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: The news that Facebook is planning an initial publi… http://t.co/10eIlBpd
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/RGFpbx6z
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/LF1EfIFx
new from me at GigaOM: “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/SwCzH2NI
RT Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: http://t.co/Sq2srFTG
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/YacYcoQu
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
RT @mathewi: new from me at GigaOM: “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/SwCzH2NI
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/m7dr1XkR
Interesting from @mathewi: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/thQ2wfkK #in
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? They do seem to power a lot.— Tech News and Analysis – http://t.co/VXv67zKd
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: There’s been a lot of sound and… http://t.co/LGDh58Ed
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/Ii22eR0s
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/9lqCYtJY #social ny
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
Updated: There has been a lot of sound… http://t.co/7QXOlWv8 Via. GigaOM
updated my post on Facebook as the General Electric of the social web with links to FTC settlement and blog post: http://t.co/SwCzH2NI
GigaOm: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? – http://t.co/1KnRPdls via http://t.co/JeOcAnUn
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/iKefEiY4
No longer just a plaything: a social utility: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/DOPAJSK4
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? – The news that Facebook is planning an initial public o… http://t.co/NCogDdNU
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? – The news that Facebook is planning an initial public o… http://t.co/7b36mf3r
RT @GigaOm: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/x8bOwEca
#socialgood Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: But what happens w… http://t.co/o1iQd0a5 http://t.co/3FQdKo5G
[GigaOM] Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
Updated: There has been a lot of sound an… http://t.co/lvJ725jA
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
Updated: There has been a lot of sound and fury la… http://t.co/WAmVlErP
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/WaZhESP7
@gigaom raises an interesting question: What happens when Facebook is a social utility — the GE of the web? http://t.co/fUzhSWc8
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/I1zEdMFQ
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/hh1kYNJv
Shared by @mbroadhurst Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/EAQqKEj0
Read and share “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/xUGQPmxJ
Facebook, the GE of the social web? — Tech News and Analysis – http://t.co/JoaNEVey #Facebook #SocialMedia [$100 billion? Really?]
Hope Facebook’s share price tanks after the IPO. I NEED to use electricity and water. I don’t NEED Facebook and thankfully joined Spotify before the Facebook membership requirement.
RT @benphoster: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/RBg5ViTO
RT @ryanshell: RT @benphoster: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/RBg5ViTO
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/ejTy85H3
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/nIJCT0c5
RT @TIBETSPACE: Facebook, the GE of the social web? — Tech News and Analysis – http://t.co/JoaNEVey #Facebook #SocialMedia [$100 billion? Really?]
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/mjJJUXjE
RT @shyamkapur: Read and share “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/xUGQPmxJ
Facebook isn’t the General Electric of the Web, it’s the Antichrist. Flee the ZuckerBeast!
http://boycottfacebookblog.blogspot.com/
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/PpqZojO3
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: As the WSJ story and others have made clear, the cu… http://t.co/lEuOTJJQ
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: http://t.co/r7Zrc4u0… http://t.co/amK7oqYO
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: That was before Zynga showed that Facebook could be… http://t.co/grt2NYzo
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/gmUL6xAU #socialgaming
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/3OiITdOR
Interesting piece from @GigaOm about Facebook as a “social utility” #foodforthought http://t.co/qk7IGpGV
particularly relevant given the FTC settlement today: “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/SwCzH2NI
RT @mathewi: “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/qyegXzds
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/OpaSFigk via @benphoster | What do yo… (cont) http://t.co/SOgqTjSs
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/dN1aJYE0
GE is not a utility
#Facebook, the “social utility”. Comparing #Facebook to GE. Interesting read w staggering numbers. http://t.co/5A28fO81
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?
http://t.co/SokDJoOJ
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web …: The news that Facebook is planning an initial pu… http://t.co/tsnTbqfg
RT @shyamkapur: Read and share “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/xUGQPmxJ
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/rUQTEFGC
RT @DeirdreLatour: Shared by @mbroadhurst Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/IErD9t4w
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: By Mathew Ingram Nov. 29, 2011, 9:32am PT No Commen… http://t.co/pn7QvwUz
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: By Mathew Ingram Nov. 29, 2011, 9:32am PT No Commen… http://t.co/pn7QvwUz
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web …: The news that Facebook is planning an initial pu… http://t.co/w9xkGXR6
Yes, and impacts innovation negatively. RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/OzFDH3jz
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: A Facebook IPO isn’ta done deal yet, of course. As … http://t.co/zOCk2eh7
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: A Facebook IPO isn’ta done deal yet, of course. As … http://t.co/MPi2Uu0u
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: A Facebook IPO isn’ta done deal yet, of course. As … http://t.co/cxLGcKIG
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: A Facebook IPO isn’ta done deal yet, of course. As … http://t.co/6UhmFGkE
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: A Facebook IPO isn’ta done deal yet, of course. As … http://t.co/ttl4D4ex
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: A Facebook IPO isn’ta done deal yet, of course. As … http://t.co/N2XBYORq
Facebook the General Electric of the social web? IPO could value FB at $100bn. http://t.co/lRyh8qGH
GigaOM | Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?: http://t.co/cvMCVMG6
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/mUz1tHXE
author, get this: General Electric isnt a utility company at all. you need a different behemoth to make your point!
in case you missed it earlier: “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/SwCzH2NI
Google has been and always will be the most visited website. Deal with it nerds
s time to get real about Facebook: the company isn’t really worth $100 bn. It’s a stretch at $80 bn, regardless of what’s been popping up in the private secondary markets. The best test of Facebook’s valuation so far came with the divestiture of part of IPG’s stake. The $133 mn transaction resulted in an implied valuation of $65 bn.
Meanwhile, Google’s market cap is around $185 bn. That’s much larger than even the most optimistic of implied valuations for Facebook
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/sZXV6r8V
RT @mathewi: in case you missed it earlier: “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/SwCzH2NI
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? — Tech News and Analysis http://t.co/u0PUjKdf
Good read RT @gigaom Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/PnNhQcs4
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? asks @mathewi http://t.co/Kn5FeYSs via @gigaom
As far as I’m concerned Facebook is spyware.
I like to mind my own business. I wouldn’t give 2 cents and bus fare for investment in Facebook.
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/h0LdbOag
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?:
Updated: There has been a lot of sound and fury la… http://t.co/XlkQkkpX
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? – http://t.co/DKcAcDJw
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/S00fMc2O
RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/Z7XUdQCe it is the social utility
Sheinehardt Wig Corporaton RT @MediaReDEF: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/gJlthDZT /via @MediaReDEF
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/C9EqFbJU
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/TqSjj89h
RT @mathewi: in case you missed it earlier: “Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web?” http://t.co/L6n9fKco
RT @DDTremblay: RT @gigaom: Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/Z7XUdQCe it is the social utility
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/idoSSC4U
If #Facebook really is a vital social utility & not just a toy, then your online identity has never mattered so much http://t.co/GrLDIHJR
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/4DkEaEDs
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/OvYGbqlG
With Facebook launching a public stock offering soon, it’s no longer just a plaything but a social utility: http://t.co/mvroXJbC
Facebook has become a social utility, the social web’s equivalent of GE – a power company: http://t.co/q0nJOdG4 @_pedersen
With Facebook launching a public stock offering soon, it’s no longer just a plaything but a social utility: http://t.co/ESrS6jrs
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/tvEol0I9
Will facebook’s IPO cement its status as one of the most powerful companies in the world? http://t.co/8kjFASef #facebookIPO #smm
Facebook’s impact on the future as an IPO is uncertain. The only certainties? Death, taxes, and complaining about FB. http://t.co/xYHCQuYL
Facebook’s impact on future as IPO=uncertain. The only certainties? Death, taxes, & complaining about FB. http://t.co/IaCCfzS1 via @hugeinc
Interesting question. Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/t4AIXg2K
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/rcIIC8PV
I was thinking along the same lines last year about Apple’s app store as well as Facebook, Matthew. And to the idea of Facebook-as-utility, can I add Facebook-as-civic-space? http://goo.gl/doMQu
What do you think? Has #Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/NZOfVaIm #in #sm #socialmedia
RT @Christinekorda: What do you think? Has #Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/NZOfVaIm #in #sm #socialmedia
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/06zyDA5r
http://t.co/QrzJedLw
Just yesterday the internet was just a play thing…….If there were statistics I believe we would see that the Web has produced more billionaires in the US than any other platform of wealth accumulation vehicles. Good for you Google. You saw the future in the crystal ball.
Has #Facebook become the #General #Electric of the social web? http://t.co/boef9IWN
Has #Facebook become the General Electric of the #social #web?http://t.co/1fFhR3QK
Facebook isn’t the General Electric of the Web, it’s the Antichrist. Flee the ZuckerBeast!
facebook has certainly passed the tipping point of being a social utility. too big to fail (for tech pundits/marketers) http://t.co/8vHNsywm
Is Facebook the GE of the net? http://t.co/Q4hAnnMY
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/7ixeET27
Has Facebook become the General Electric of the social web? http://t.co/V2X3eVYV