Filter Bubbles in Action
May 22, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Oh no reason
Smartness over on Modern Primate:
For the third day in a row, Facebook’s stock prices have taken a steep fall, down another 7% from yesterday. But if you only get your news via social networks and other social-friendly content platforms, you might not have heard the news.
Don’t get me wrong, the social web is great for a lot of things. Many of the people in my network enjoy a similar sense of humor as I do, so when they recommend a piece of content that they enjoy, there’s a fair chance that I might enjoy it too.
But what about the bad news? People aren’t always so inclined to share the bad news. In order to find out the big picture, one must take the initiative to actively search for it. To live one’s entire online life inside Facebook or an equivalent social network is to only get a piece of the whole picture.
Full article here!
Also, a programming note: I’ll be in Arizona for the next few days for the International Communications Association conference. Posting may slow down as a result, or may not, depending on my internet situation. Also level of interest. I will post my paper, “Cats and Penises All the Way Down: Performances of Gender and Sexuality” once I’ve given the talk. Academia!
The Facebook is Falling
May 21, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Yes, this news is several hours old. I HAD SEVERAL HOURS OF ERRANDS TO RUN THIS MORNING, GET OFF MY NUTS. Re: Facebook’s 12% stock slump, Brian Barett of Gizmodo keeps it simple:
There’s a perfectly good explanation for all of this. The truth is, Facebook’s been heading for a tailspin since the very first trade.
Full article here; the tl;dr version is that banks are the worst, and the stock market is make-believe.
More on that $38 Threshold
May 18, 2012 § Leave a Comment
To be a fly on that wall
On CNET, Larry Dignan explains that, yeah, Facebook turned a profit, except with a pretty big catch:
But the far more interesting endpoint to Facebook’s IPO is that it needed help from its plunge protection team — 33 underwriters determined to make sure the offering didn’t break below the $38 price.
…
To understand how bankers supported the Facebook IPO, all you had to do is watch the Level II quotes — a stock system designed to show you underlying bid and ask prices — to see how millions of bids appeared every time Facebook hit $38.
Coincidence? Not quite. There weren’t zillions of people waiting for Facebook shares at $38. But investment banks were unloading every bullet they had to keep FB at least treading water.
The question is, would would have happened if the “plunge protection team” hadn’t stepped in? I SUSPECT THERE WILL BE LOTS OF THEORIES ABOUT THIS, ON THE INTERNET SOON.
Facebook! I Wanna Thank Yooooou!
May 18, 2012 § Leave a Comment
One more time, for posterity. Also because Zuck needs to blame SOMEONE. From the LA Times:
Facebook Inc. shares got off to a rocky start in what has been the most highly anticipated initial public offering in history.
The stock jumped more than 10% in the first few minutes of trading. But then sellers swept into the market and that gain evaporated.
“It’s a total disaster because the stock is trading right at the IPO price,” said Francis Gaskins, editor of IPOdesktop.com in Marina del Rey. “They didn’t want that in a million years. A traditional IPO is up 10% or 15%.”
…
There had been hopes that Facebook’s IPO would be a shot in the arm to the broader markets. But that too appears to have fallen by the wayside.
Major U.S. stock indexes were all higher in the hours leading up to the public offering. Once Facebook shares began to weaken, however, so did the market.
The technology heavy Nasdaq fell 6.06, or 0.22%, to 2,807.70. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 13.77, or 0.11%, to 12,428.57; and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 0.69, or 0.6%, to 1,303.98.
…Cool story?
[...]
May 18, 2012 § Leave a Comment
The best thing about Facebook’s IPO is that it’s giving people an excuse to talk about the 17th Century Dutch Tulip Craze. The worst thing about Facebook’s IPO is that it’s giving everyone an excuse to talk about their THEORIES.
From the Atlantic’s Tumblr:
The only intelligent, honest, and true thing to say about this inevitable question is that nobody has any clue. In 1992, a company called America Online had a $70 million valuation after its IPO. A decade later, it was worth $150 billion. A decade after that peak, it is now worth only $1 billion. Online fortunes are built on hyper-active tectonic plates. Mountains of wealth accumulate from flat nothingness, rumble, push up toward the sky, and with alarming frequency, blow themselves up. The Internet is a super-seismic place. […]
My favorite part is the [...], which is included in the post. It’s as good a conclusion as any. On that note, how about a Facebook-themed dance party??????
“Facebook is Stupid and For Old People”
May 16, 2012 § Leave a Comment
It’s already been a bad news bears week for Facebook. And the IPO doesn’t happen till Friday! From Ross Newmann:
Since its inception, Facebook has traded in an invaluable currency – it was undeniably cool. Ordinary consumers loved the company because it was radically transforming how they connected with friends, and investors fell over themselves trying to get a piece of its unprecedented growth. That narrative has rightly held up for quite some time, but it’s coming to an end. When Facebook announced the Instagram acquisition, many feared that Facebook (supposedly a company with its finger on the zeitgeist) would wreck the newer and “cooler” Instagram. This 12 year old summed it up best when she said, “Facebook is stupid and for old people.”
Facebook’s party just isn’t cool anymore, and the ads that pay for it don’t really work that well. The party’s over, and it’s no fun when all your friends figure that out right before your birthday IPO.
Full article here.
