Ahhh Facebook! The Pet Rock of the 21st century. Something everybody has to have, get tired of, and toss in the trash after the hangover stops.
Facebook has been called “The Social Network”. Hell they even made a movie. But at the end of the day, the Facebook buzz can be attributed to advertisers, Social Media Guru’s, tech writers having a slow news day, or formerly famous personalities trying to reinvent themselves.
Facebook claims 500 million users. B U L L S H I T !!! 500 million accounts Seriously? I don’t think so. They may have a few million active users, say anybody who has used their account in the last 6 months, which is being charitable as the ‘social network game’ depends on fresh blood more than starving vampires. And out of those few million how many are Social Media PR dogs, company flack accounts, and links to the latest meme?
500 million users. B U L L S H I T !!!This is Internet Accounting 101
(Internet Accounting 101: You add all your users and report that number while ignoring folks who quit. You don’t want your site to look like a wall street stock chart. Bad for investors and IPO Cash outs.)
Facebook’s Valuation
There is a lot of speculation regarding the value of Facebook. 12, 24, 33, 50 billion or more. This is hyperbole writ large. Valuation is like wishing in one hand and shitting in the other. You know which will fill up first. The best way to gauge a company’s worth is to see what they have for income, and what you might get for the parts when you break it up.
7 months ago Facebook’s income was pegged between 700 million to 1.1. billion, primarily from advertising revenue and selling data. But even these figures are wild assed guesses. Since the only sharing Facebook does is your personal and public information, making this at best a Wild Assed Guess as well. Even using the stock market game of income multiples, which values stock share price at a multiple of earnings, at 10 times, a relatively conservative figure, the valuation would be around 10 billion on a good day.
Facebook has a bunch of computers and some office space. Used computers bring even less money that used restaurant equipment. They own little if any real estate so there is no money there. Good Will? nah, the S&L failures took that nugget off balance sheets. Not much here once you cut the crap away.
Zucks 100 million for Education
100 million in stock. As noted above this gift has a dubious value. Until you find some sucker to pay cash money for this, you can’t buy books, fix buildings or pay teachers. Makes a great sound byte, but will not make kids smarter anytime soon. Not that this is not a nice gesture, but the pool of suckers has been drained by ponzi schemers, mortgage bankers, and toxic asset bundlers.
Social Networks and Privacy is an Oxymoron
Privacy and Facebook is such an oxymoron that you are probably throwing up in your mouth a little bit.
There is no Privacy in Social Networks.
Social Networks are not about privacy. They are Social as in Pregnancy. There is no ‘a little bit pregnant’. This is why I laugh my ass off when I read postings like ‘Facebook’s Privacy Move Violates Contract With Users’
What bullshit! As I mentioned above, you have no privacy, nor do you have any control over the shifting sands of this weeks privacy rights to the material that you post there. The author goes on about the dangers of this network and makes a leap that there is some contract about your use of their service giving you any privacy. Privacy settings are a Virtual Figleaf so you are not Socially Nude. And only show up in your browser, while in the back room, all your data is being collated, strained, prioritized, and shoveled into the sweaty hands of advertisers. Facebook makes no money by keeping things private.
Facebook, like the rest of the Social Networks are using Advertisers who should have more sense, building the Internet version of magazines. Having the ability to corral ‘users’ into smaller and smaller boxes to shoot ads at, is the electronic Midway Carnival, and you are all rubes.
Regardless of what sort of pixie dust you are snorting, Eric Schmidt of Google is right in telling you, If you want to keep things private, keep them off the internet.