The Slinky Was A Fad, Too!

Half of all Americans polled recently in an Associated Press/CNBC survey responded that they thought the Facebook phenomenon was merely a fad. That's an odd image: fads usually appear, rise to prominence, then disappear with none the wiser. Let's see, some phenomena that might fit that criterion...disco? bell-bottomed pants? midriff-baring tops? representative government? Anyway, you get the idea that fads are supposed to fade away. Facebook has been with us for eight years and has grown to produce a BILLION dollars (just picture Dr. Evil doing that thing with his little finger) in the first quarter of this year. Not even the hula hoop generated that kind of cash. Figuring that there are approximately 900 million users worldwide, it would seem that Facebook is something more than a cultural one-night-stand. Forty percent of the Americans polled indicate that they log on at least once a week to keep up with whatever is happening with people they know. Here's the deal, though...Facebook is going public this week, offering shares at between $34 and $38 per. There are, however, signs of trouble. General Motors just dropped its ads from the Facebook site, and everyone knows that's how The Zuck makes money: those somewhat intrusive ads on the right-hand side of the page. Does General Motors know something we don't? Here's something it might have learned from the same poll: 57% of those polled indicate that they have never, ever opened one of the ads while going through the site. That statistic might give a company looking for a gold mine pause. If you're rushing to the checkbook to see how much you can invest, you're probably out of luck. Remember when Google went public? I knew it would be huge and thought seriously about scratching together some scratch; foolish of me, it was, since by the time an investor like myself could even buy the stock, it had shot up to a price well out of my range. The same will probably happen to Facebook...the people with serious cash will cash in, and the rest of us will have to satisfy ourselves with what we have stuffed in the coffee can or mattress. Such is financial life at the bottom. Maybe I'm happier than Zuckerberg, though.