The engine that powers Facebook, the Facebook proletarians, know that at some point, someone will throw a better party.
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[Black Star News Editorial] Why did Facebook’s share price slide after opening at $38 Monday? It closed at $32 Wednesday. It’s slightly higher than its low-point but still 16% lower than the initial IPO. Law
suits have been filed by investors. Some allege Facebook painted an
overly rosy prospectus to gullible investors who then poured billions of
dollars at the offering. The SEC and other authorities have taken
an interest. There were reported “glitches” that hampered some trades in
the initial hours. Some observers complained that Facebook flooded the
market by boosting the number of shares available to retail buyers. These are asides. What people want to know is why the shares didn’t double given the mad hype in the months before the IPO. Facebook
once appeared like an egalitarian planet. The 900-million plus users
could pretend that CEO Mark Zuckerberg was also one of the Global Plebs.
Now, with his newly-minted billions, he’s clearly part of the Global
one-percent elite; separated from the millions of ordinary Facebook users. Facebook
is a great venue for the Global community. Facebook allowed friends,
family and long-lost folk to team up again. Facebook allowed people from
different countries, cultures, races and religions to connect and to
discover how, in many respects, people around the world are so similar. Facebook
opened doors and windows into the homes of individuals, groups, and
organizations that many of us never would have heard of. Facebook has
taught us how big the world is and how small the world really is. Facebook
has made us global literates. We’ve learned things we never would have
known. We’ve also learned things we now wish we’d never heard about. Facebook
is an empowering and intellectually-nourishing venue. It lets users
congregate in larger global tribes while anonymously peering into
conversations and postings elsewhere on the Facebook universe. Facebook
has shattered the absolute monopoly over information once
exercised by corporate media giants such as The New York Times, CNN, and
the BBC. These media behemoths’ ability to censor information we consume by selectively determining what’s “news worthy,” has been diminished.Facebook has made it impossible for repressive
regimes and dictatorships around the world, especially in Africa, to
hide their abuses and the tortures of their citizenry. The world is a better place because of Facebook. But,
while millions of people were willing to spend billions of dollars for
Facebook shares, Facebook is not a product. Part of it’s beauty is that
it’s seen as a free platform for free-flow of information. It’s a big old party.
Maybe Morgan Stanley, Facebook’s main advisor on its IPO and Facebook CEO Zuckerberg, hadn’t figured it out. Regular Facebook family members know why the shares aren’t soaring; not yet anyway. The
regular users, the engine that powers Facebook — the Facebook proletarians– know that at some
point all great parties come to an end. At some point, someone will
start throwing a better party. Of course, there are many ways
Facebook can remain “The Party” for a long time by becoming even more of a
“product.” We won’t offer those ideas in this commentary. Suffice to say it would involve Facebook investing some of the billions in newly-acquired wealth with Facebook proletarians. Does Zuckerberg care? Triple Lol!!!
But he should. “Speaking Truth To Empower.”
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