Acquisition of Facebook Good for Upstart Networks?
So, as I said, the midterm season's kept me extremely busy, and now that that's over I've got a fair bit of catching up to do with reading, assignments, and so on. But probably the biggest news of the day (or the week) is Microsoft's deal with Facebook to purchase 1.6 percent of the company for 240 milllion dollars, which gives Facebook as a whole a valuation of like 15 billion. Whoah. For those of you who are unaware or forgot, this is the same Facebook that was invented by Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg, in his dorm room, when he was my age. That's pretty good.But hold the phone, sister. This article from the Associated Press hints that this whole arrangement could spell trouble for the social networking site down the road. If Facebook becomes too burdened with advertising, social networking addicts, (ie. every 14 to 23 year-old North American), may begin seeking more open alternatives such as the likes of Ning. This kind of jump doesn't seem unreasonable at this point either, especially now that Facebookers are used to higher levels of of customization thanks to the Applications platform. One way or another, what goes up must come down. Just like ol' Faceberg probably stayed down the day after this kegger at Facebook HQ celebrating the $15 billion valuation. Yeah, that's him doing the kegstand. (Photo courtesy of FSJ.)
Random: That new Radiohead album is fantabulous! My favourite In Rainbows track, currently, is "House of Cards". If you haven't checked this album out yet, do it. It's good for you.
Labels: facebook, Microsoft, social networking
posted by Dave @ 1:27 AM
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