Social Media

Pinterest shapes up for anti-millennial IPO

8 Aug 2018

The social app is among the last to tap public markets. Prince Alwaleed buying a stake in Snap suggests investors still like the sector. A valuation between the disappearing-message service and Twitter suggests Pinterest is worth around $13 bln, a tad more than last year.

Don’t expect tech giants to stifle Alex Jones

7 Aug 2018

Facebook, Apple, Alphabet et al have, after excessive vacillation, taken the hateful rantings of the Infowars founder off their platforms. As private companies, that’s their right. But until Jones is bankrupted for libel, he will have many other ways to spread his noxious bile.

Privacy builds a wider moat for Apple’s margins

31 Jul 2018

The iPhone maker’s premium prices and fast-growing services powered earnings in the latest quarter. Selling hardware rather than advertising once seemed like a weakness. But in the wake of Facebook’s woes, CEO Tim Cook is using data security to buff the brand – and profitability.

Twitter purges users and shareholders alike

27 Jul 2018

The social network’s efforts to reduce spam, fake users and toxicity shrank active monthly users. Investors fled as well. That leaves both the platform and valuation more salubrious. Healthy returns will now depend on finding growth.

New Facebook pessimism overshoots reality

26 Jul 2018

Forecasts of reduced growth and margins wiped nearly 20 pct, or about $120 bln, off the social network’s valuation. That’s an astonishing hit. Investors now implicitly expect growth to be run-of-the-mill within a few years. That’s replacing excessive optimism with undue glumness.

Investors hit brakes on record-high Facebook

25 Jul 2018

The social network’s stock closed at a new top on Wednesday, valuing it at $630 bln. Then came a sharp after-hours slide following earnings. Fake-news scandals, potential regulation and Mark Zuckerberg’s tin ear all raise big questions. The news feed could get a lot worse.

Facebook and Twitter are lucrative quagmires

24 Jul 2018

Bosses Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey are under fire for allowing misinformation and bullying to flourish on their social networks. Lawmakers and users are beginning to notice, but advertisers have a higher tolerance – and that’s what keeps the swamp bubbling.

Investors bet fake-news swamp is left undrained

17 Jul 2018

U.S. lawmakers grilled Facebook, Alphabet’s YouTube and Twitter about how they filter an ocean of content. Both questions and answers made any plausible bias-free approach seem remote. Yet the companies’ rising stocks suggest confidence that no serious regulation will follow.

Tech backlash grows in Silicon Valley’s back yard

2 Jul 2018

California will force internet companies like Google to give consumers more control over their information and stop it being sold to third parties. The law is narrow but the Golden State is often a litmus test for legislation that takes hold nationwide.

Facebook D.C. probe could open a can of worms

26 Jun 2018

Congress wants to hold the social-media platform accountable for Russian election meddling and other concerns. That could affect a key protection for internet firms, which have broad legal immunity for posted content. Reducing it would expose them to a rash of costly lawsuits.

Facebook is light on Washington friending skills

12 Jun 2018

Its lobbyists tried to do damage control in Congress as its data-sharing with China’s Huawei came to light. Their lack of answers left the impression they weren’t in the loop, and the company’s defensive tweets didn’t help. Facebook could use a lesson in diplomacy as well as transparency.

China hands Facebook its worst political misstep

6 Jun 2018

The social network was already in trouble for Russian election meddling. But its undisclosed data-sharing with Chinese phone maker Huawei will inflame U.S. politicians from both parties. The dalliance makes punishing legislation, and tougher scrutiny from watchdogs, more likely.

Facebook’s top two get a muddled message

5 Jun 2018

Most independent shareholders elected to nix the social network’s super voting rights. Yet they voiced approval for Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. The strong showing for the boss and COO undercuts the argument to scrap the structure that keeps them entrenched.

Review: Mad men struggle in vain to preserve past

1 Jun 2018

A new book examines Madison Avenue’s uneasy relationship with Facebook. Advertising firms are trying to combat the social network’s clout with electronic exchanges and use of data. But author Ken Auletta merely flicks at the obvious: The middlemen don’t have a prayer.

Facebook has a boardroom problem – but what?

17 May 2018

Two proxy advisers offer investors different reasons to withhold votes from mostly different directors – ISS includes Mark Zuckerberg. The CEO has control, so any such move would only be a protest. Through the confusion, though, shines the need to puncture Zuckerberg’s bubble.

Chinese social network loses friends in new way

14 May 2018

Some Renren investors are unhappy about a deal to sell assets to a firm co-controlled by the CEO. The rationale for its low valuation of a stake in online lender SoFi looks thin. An antisocial share structure and Cayman Islands base, however, mean it's probably a losing battle.

A tale of two super-voting stakes – and steaks

3 May 2018

Zynga’s Mark Pincus converted his founder’s stock into regular shares, cutting his vote from 70 pct to 10 pct. Though overdue, it liberates the online-gaming firm. Meanwhile, the owner of Steak n Shake jammed through a dual-class structure – a backward step, as investors showed.

Peppa Pig can survive Chinese censor’s cleaver

3 May 2018

Video-sharing app Douyin chopped the cartoon swine after it appeared in “subversive” videos posted by users. The ban does not directly hurt owner Entertainment One’s revenue. Still, it’s a reminder that even the most innocent media characters can fall out of official favour.

Facebook dating reality may fall short of fears

1 May 2018

News of a matchmaking add-on to the social network tanked the shares of Match and owner IAC on Tuesday. People are spending less time on Facebook and this could persuade some to linger. But they’d have to believe Mark Zuckerberg’s promiscuous data-sharing days are behind him.

Squeezed Facebook is set to squeeze others

1 May 2018

Mark Zuckerberg has touted a new, responsible privacy approach since the Cambridge Analytica mess. Outside developers fear it will dent their business. And users of WhatsApp – whose founder is quitting Facebook – may need reassurance they aren’t the social network’s next product.