News
Americans show mixed reactions about Facebook’s IPO
16 May 2012
Eight in 10 Facebook users in the US say they hardly ever (26%) or never (57%) click on online advertising or sponsored content when using the site, according to an AP-CNBC poll.
The poll, carried out just days before Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO), found that 59% of Facebook users do not trust the site with their personal information and have little or no faith in Facebook protecting their privacy.
Only 13% trust Facebook completely or a lot and 54% of Americans say they would not feel safe purchasing goods and services via the social network.
Ahead of its IPO later this week, 51% of those surveyed said that Facebook stock would be a good investment to make, while 31% feel it would not be so good and 17% are unsure.
Just over a third (36%) of the US public have a favourable impression of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and 18% are confident in his ability to run a large publicly traded company like Facebook, with 40% “somewhat confident”.
Half (50%) of Americans feel that a Facebook valuation of almost $100bn – bigger than Ford and Kraft but smaller than Google and Coca-Cola – would be too high.
In terms of favourability, Facebook (51%) fares better in terms of favourability compared to Twitter (27%), yet it lags behind Google (71%), Apple (71%) and Microsoft (71%).
Jenni Baker, London