Who Will Facebook Choose: Users or Investors?

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By: Greg Dorn

As soon as Facebook went public on that fateful day on May 18, the company entered into uncharted territories and forever changed the road on which it would travel. For eight years, Facebook employees poured their hearts, sweat, and tears into creating the most satisfying and flawless user experience for their nearly 950 million+ registered users. They created photo sharing, the wall, and of course the news feed (how soon we forget the privacy backlash of the news feed, and how now we couldn’t imagine Facebook without it). When the masses considered a certain feature intrusive or faulty, the Facebook PR machine hit the ground running with their top-notch damage control. The company’s only goal was to keep the user happy and content. Now that actual investors have poured their hard-earned money into a company that has seen its stock plunge 33% from its IPO, will Facebook care about the casual user?

Facebook’s third-quarter earning reports beat Wall Street estimates of $1.23 billion with a revenue of $1.26 billion, or $.12 a share. This news shot the stock up 24%. The fact alone that Facebook’s quarterly revenue and share price are making headlines prove the company is clearly now more profit-oriented than user-focused.

For months, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been promising investors that monetizing its mobile community is the company’s number-one priority. In fact, Facebook’s recent stock-rebound from its $17.55 bottom to its current share-price of $21.94 can be attributed to reports that 14% of ad revenue comes from mobile advertisement.

With many analysts turning into bulls for the first time since Facebook’s debut, along with Zuckerberg’s pledge to continue to conjure up more revenue-driving initiatives, it's clear the focus has strayed from the user over to the investor.

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About the Author

Greg Dorn is a blogger, writer, and obsessed with everything technology and social media. Greg is absolutely captivated with the recent advancements in mobile gadgets, making our world more seamlessly connected. You can learn more about him on his own blog here.

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