How Facebook Will Finally Make Money

Almost a year ago now, in May of 2012, Zuckerberg decided to take his baby, Facebook, public. The company offered an IPO of $38 per share. The shares sold like hotcakes purely because of the speculation of how much information Facebook must know about the e-commerce universe. While that speculation is probably true, there has been one major problem Facebook has been having. That is, they don't know how to turn that information into profits. Today, the stock price is at ~$26.87. I am a firm believer that sometime soon they will be able to realize immense profits, and it's going to happen through cruel creativity.

Here is an image from my facebook this morning:

For a long time now Facebook has provided us with handy reminders that our friends are celebrating birthdays. What they're doing differently now is using some of that cruel creativity to remind us that not only are our friends celebrating a birthday, they're reminding us that it would probably be 'nice' to buy them a gift. And on top of that, they do every last bit of thinking for us and let us know exactly what it is that each individual likes, so that we don't have to guess at a gift to give. From this image, I'm literally one click away from spending money.

Facebook will continue to realize the immense 'sway' they have on individuals. They don't remind us to send Ali an iTunes gift card because they're being helpful - they do it for the money, as they should for their shareholders. FB will continue to find ways to trick us into spending money, by doing all the leg work for us. Soon, you won't have to go looking for concert times, locations, and ticket rates. Facebook will bring it to you and provide a 'helpful reminder' that you need to pick up those tickets before they get sold out. Soon, you won't have to use Kayak, Priceline, etc. to book your flights, Facebook will do the work for you. Companies will pay Facebook lavishly in order to gain that direct pipeline to your thoughts. So, here's to the future, a future of mindless spending.