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With Facebook's initial public offering creating such a frenzy ofinterest, there's an important question to be considered: Whathappens if tomorrow or next week or five months from now, thisinvestment goes south? "There is such a massive anticipation for this IPO that any stumble by the company, in terms of its strategy or itsearnings, could lead to massive losses very quickly," said AndrewStoltmann, a securities lawyer with Stoltmann Law Offices inChicago. "Every IPO involves risk, but given the lofty valuation on Facebook , it involves even more risk." With Facebook expected to launch its IPO on Friday, anticipation isreaching a fever pitch. The social network company has about 900 million active monthlyusers. According to Experian Hitwise, one in every five page viewsin the U.S. was on Facebook, and this one social networking sitehas received more than 400 billion page views this year in the U.S.alone. Many potential investors have their own -- or their kids' --experiences with the site -- playing Words with Friends, keepingtrack of college roommates, posting updates about family vacationsand videos of softball games. Meanwhile, the social networking company has taken a few hits inthe past few weeks that might give prospective investors pause. An Associated Press-CNBC poll released this week found that three of every five Facebook users havelittle or no faith that the social network will keep their personalinformation private. The survey also found that half of Americanssay Facebook is a passing fad. Industry analysts were also troubled with Facebook's inability togenerate revenue off its growing number of mobile users . Questions also arose during the company's IPO roadshow about thelevel of maturity of Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, 28, and whether hehad the skills to lead a major public company. There was alsocriticism of Zuckerberg for showing up for a presentation to abuttoned-down group of high-powered investors wearing jeans and ahoodie sweatshirt. The biggest strike may have been Tuesday when General Motors, oneof the country's largest advertisers, pulled out of a $10 millionadvertising deal with Facebook. The auto maker concluded that itspaid ads on the social network were ineffective in driving morebusiness. However, none of these incidents stopped Facebook from moving toincrease the price range of its stock from $29 to $34 per share to $34 to $38. The new range could boost Facebook's valuation to more than $100billion. That massive valuation is causing some concern. "The biggest thing that creates the largest risk for investors isthe outsized expectations," Stoltmann said. "I would say it's atleast 50/50 for there to be a big run up and then a price slump...The IPO could open very hot, but there could be thousands ofinvestors who lose massive amounts of money." He cited Groupon , an online daily deal pioneer that came out strong with its IPOearly last November but whose stock has plummeted more than 40%from its IPO price. That's also what happened with online radiocompany Pandora Media, which is down about 42% from its IPO price. "Suddenly this feels very dot-com like," said Rob Enderle, ananalyst with the Enderle Group. "A young, inexperienced CEO makingtextbook mistakes, a huge customer running for the hills and actingvindictively, lots of talk about instant millionaires and raisingthe offer price in the face of value concerns.. And this is publicenough to behave like a bellwether and certainly could adverselyimpact social networking, but it also feels big enough to adverselyimpact the tech segment. My hope is that it won't, but my gut saysit will." Both Enderle and Stoltmann noted that if Facebook's IPO goes south,it could have negative repercussions on the social networkingworld. Companies like Twitter , for instance, could have a harder time generating business andinvestor interest in its own future IPO. "Facebook is the bluest of blue chip social media companies outthere," Stoltmann said. "I think it's a harbinger, and I think [ifFacebook's IPO goes badly], it would be very disconcerting to othersocial media companies." However, negative ripples could easily extend beyond the socialnetworking world into the entire tech industry. "If a company as large and as high profile as Facebook tanks, it'spossible it could have an adverse affect on the tech market as awhole," added Stoltmann. "I would certainly hope not, butperception is such a big part of valuations on technology stocks." Enderle noted that if the technology market were to stumble andthat was coupled with trouble in the oil markets or the Europeaneconomies, there could be trouble ahead for the overall U.S.economy. Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy,isn't quite as concerned about Facebook's IPO. "At this point, the train has left the station, and the FacebookIPO will be a huge event for many constituents," Moorhead said."This is important not only for Facebook, but the entire IPO marketas a whole. There is an 'appropriate' amount of excitement aroundthe Facebook launch given the implications it has to future IPOsand the state of the tech industry." Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emergingtechnologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld.Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin , on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her email address is . See more by Sharon Gaudin on Computerworld.com. Read more about web 2.0 and web apps in Computerworld's Web 2.0 and Web Apps Topic Center. I am an expert from infusion-bag.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Infusion Bag , Hypodermic Syringe Manufacturer, Urine Drainage Bag,and more.
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