Recently Facebook announced that stocks in the social networking site will be available to the public. Although there is no official date for when stocks will be released the announcement has led to great speculation about changes this could bring the site. One objective of making Facebook trading public is to incorporate Facebook users in larger decisions. Until now Facebook users around the world have been unwarned to changes in privacy settings, layout, and site policies which has caused occasional backlash against the site due to mandatory compliance with changes. With a greater say in the company the public could have influence on such changes, or at least be informed ahead of time to what changes are going to be made and when. They may also be able to make suggestions, and help to improve Facebook as we know it today.
There is no doubt that Facebook going public on the stock exchange would change the way that people invest in the internet and social networking sites but what is not as obvious is how this will influence Facebook’s competitors. Right now Facebook’s main competitor is Google, but many believe that once Facebook stocks are available it will surpass Google as the top online advertiser and possibly have higher valued stocks than Google. Potential growth seems to be the characteristic that separates Facebook from the rest. Google is extremely profitable but recently has lacked in growth and innovation. Facebook is known for being ever-changing, innovative, and always growing. Frequent new features keeps Facebook growing where it seems other online competitors have hit a plateau. Many believe that this potential growth into an empire is what will make Facebook’s stock extremely valuable and potentially game changing.
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