Why Facebook’s IPO only increases its global impact

Ah man, anyone who thought Facebook was just a fad must be eating their words right now. Facebook’s IPO, however flat its opening may have turned out to be, is something that’s turning the world on its head.

One of the biggest impacts of Facebook going public is that it is now in an elite class of its own. Not that it wasn’t already, but now it’s official. It’s not going anywhere, anytime soon, contrary to the disputes from anti-Facebookers cries of “It’s just a fad, like Myspace”.

Facebook has now joined a business category that can qualify for a government bailout. If that’s not impressive, even to the sceptics, then I don’t know what is.

Fan or foe?
Admittedly, Facebook isn’t for everyone. If you’re not one of the 901-million users, chances are you probably won’t be reading this. But seriously, if you’re not a Facebook Fan, its recent IPO status doesn’t mean you have to run out embrace it, although I cannot fathom why you wouldn’t. Just know that more and more business, entertainment, and communication will be happening via Facebook.

Get with the times
If you’re purposely ignoring it, you’re deliberately abstaining from a growing part of society’s interactions, and the new way the world is communicating. Possibility the biggest form of change and growth the communication has ever seen.

Besides the imminent financial impacts, Facebook IPO seems to be having an impact on a number of other facets within the market.

Many industries and businesses therein, are trying to figure out how Facebook’s recent IPO status will impact on the market at large.

According to an article in specialist fashion publication Women’s Wear Daily there’s big talk around where Facebook’s focus will lie considering its looming increased cash flow.

Options range from further developments in its open-graph technology, to further engagement, to mobile innovations to fuel brand partners’ brick-and-mortar shopping experience or improving client account management services for companies.

Industry professionals seem to think that Facebook will become more aggressive in pushing its advertising model, stirring even greater competition with traditional media companies.

If you’re not inside, you’re outside
An obscure spin off of the IPO was an apparent Coca-Cola share price increase. According to Street Insider Coca-Cola shares were up 0.3% after a photo of a female Facebook employee reaching into a Facebook-themed refrigerator for refreshment was posted online.

Rumour has it that this could have been an attempt of conglomerate Coca-Cola trying to leverage the recent PR and media attention Facebook IPO is currently receiving. A cunning plan to get onto the Facebook inside track. Farfetched? Definitely.

In fact, The Next Web called the business publisher on the far-fetched nature of this story. The tech news publication venomously suggested that sales of the fridge lamp, the awful yellow sweater, and the earrings the woman was wearing were all going through the roof.

These stories just underline the fact that Facebook is no longer a platform you can easily shy away from. So instead of looking for reasons why you don’t need to use it, rather acknowledge the reasons why you should.

As François de La Rochefoucauld famously said “The only constant in life is change”. With Facebook leading the way, his words ring true.