Facebook is all over the news today. I know, I know, just another day at the office.
Facebook will be adding enhanced networking capabilities specifically designed to better network for business on the social networking site.
Many professionals using Facebook have complained that Facebook is still too college-mentality-centric, with ‘networking’ mostly used as a euphemism for ‘hookups.’ TechCrunch reports that this may be about to change:
Currently on Facebook, users can say they are looking for friendship, dating, a relationship, random play or “whatever I can get.” But networking was recently added as a desired relationship type Facebook is actually worth $10 billion. What a crazy world we live in:
These lofty valuations have a lot of people in Silicon Valley and beyond squirming. They worry about a replay of the dot-com boom, which peaked early in 2000, only to crash later that year. “Companies like Facebook are driving everybody bananas,” says Sumant Mandal, managing director at Clearstone Venture Partners.
But the bubble chatter misses the point. Buyouts by established companies, from Google, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), and eBay to News Corp. (NWS) and CBS (CBS), bubbly as they may appear, serve a valid strategic purpose. Marketers and media companies alike fervently believe there are lucrative opportunities to get people engaged with their brands, products, and ads in ways Madison Avenue could never dream of.
However, the article does warn that even if Facebook is worth $10B, that kind of valuation might not last, especially as the economy cools.
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