Faced with great expectations, Facebook is staring down some potentially unnerving obstacles when it comes to key areas of monetization and growth: public distrust and display advertising apathy.
He famously wears a hoodie, jeans and sneakers, and he was born the year Apple introduced the Macintosh. But Mark Zuckerberg is no boy-CEO. Facebook's chief executive turned 28 on Monday, setting in motion the social network's biggest week ever.
For those who want to own just one ceremonial share of a company, there are websites that specialize in "one share" transactions. The operators of those sites say they expect Facebook to become one of their most popular stocks once it begins trading publicly.
Ask people what they think about Facebook, and you're likely to hear everything from "It's a terrific way to connect with friends and family," to "It's a colossal drain on time and productivity." Soon, you could start getting a third response: It's a big investment opportunity.