Arrival of "The King" to the world of financial transparency

According to a CNBC report released today Facebook is very likely to finally enter the arena of publicly traded companies sometime early next year. The arrival of the "King of Social Media" to the world of financial transparency will be the biggest test of all social media.

As more and more social media companies go public to finance their growth, the more attention investors and the world pays how well these companies can deliver the expected financial results. Companies like Groupon that is going public with a valuation around $20B while still being in the red despite its $713 million revenue, or LinkedIn at $7B IPO valuation that quickly doubled in the first day of trading will be under scrutiny from investors.

Facebook has been the success story of the post-dot-com-bust era and the icon of the new online business opportunities. The big test of these social-media-fueled business models has just begun and the arrival of "The King" will accelerate this process to a great extent. The question is not whether social media provides viable foundation for a business model but whether investors assess the potentials in those business models with a cool head. If they don't, I recommend everyone to buckle up and get ready for the ride, it's gonna be rough...

http://venturebeat.com/2011/06/13/report-facebook-planning-100b-ipo-for-q1-2012/