Business & Tech

QUESTION: Is Facebook Sustainable?

There's been a lot of debate lately about the staying power of Facebook.com, after company stock has taken a plunge in the national market.

According to the Associated Press, Facebook stock dropped to $19 as of Friday, August 17, meaning the company has lost half its market value since the company's initial public offering.

It's the lowest point for the company's stock, but some analysts believe Facebook — created by Mark Zuckerberg — still has a powerful staying power in the future. When the company went public in May, it boasted a user base of 900 million active users. If it were a country, Facebook would be the third largest in the world after China (population: 1.34 billion) and India (population: 1.17 billion).

It seems that everyone (and their grandma) is on Facebook these days, but it also seemed that way when MySpace was first created and that site is now a virtual graveyard.

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One thing Zuckerberg's creation has that both MySpace and Friendster lacked is the ability to log into other websites via Facebook. For example, readers can log into Renton Patch with their own personal passord or through Facebook. You can also follow Renton Patch, as well as many other local businesses on Facebook fan pages. The Huffington Post allows readers to log in via Facebook, Twitter, AOL, and Google, among other options.

As stocks dip it raised the question — is Facebook a sustainable company that can create revenue for investors, or is the social media site a passing phase?

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So we put it to you, Patch users: Do you think Facebook is here to stay?


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