In A new poll by Associated Press (AP) and CNBC revleals interesting and often surprising results about what citizens of USA, home to the world's biggest social networking site Facebook, think of it on various parameters.
For one, about half of the polled Americans say that Facebook is a passing fad and that it's asking price for the IPO is too high. (This is regardless of the generally considered opinion that a lot of investors have been falling over themselves to grab a chunk of the social networking phenomenon.)
An AP report on Yahoo.com says, "The company Mark Zuckerberg created as a Harvard student eight years ago is preparing for what looks to be the biggest Internet IPO ever. Expected later this week, Facebook's Wall Street debut could value the company at $100 billion, making it worth more than Disney, Ford and Kraft Foods."
The report, however, gives some impressive stats about Facebook's usage. The site is said to have about 900 million users worldwide and made revenues of $1 billion in the first quarter of 2012 (compared to less than $800 million in the entire 2009). Also, about 40% Americans are believed to be logging into the site at least once a week.
Despite these seemingly impressive numbers, only one third of the respondents in the AP-CNBC poll consider the company's expected value to be "appropriate."
Respondents in different age groups view Facebook's potential differently. Fifty nine percent of those under age 35 think Facebook is a good bet, while only 39% of those age 65 and over say Facebook shares are a good investment.
There are concerns about privacy on Facebook. According to the Yahoo.com article, "Three of every five Facebook users say they have little or no faith that the company will protect their personal information. Only 13 percent trust Facebook to guard their data, and only 12 percent would feel safe making purchases through the site."
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