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The Facebook Stock Predictor algorithm generated a SELL signal late in the regular US trading session on 11/6 and we notified our email list members immediately. This was after a Neutral position was maintained for the past 5 trading days – a demonstration of computer-grade patience as the market resolved its slow grind.
Last night our team exchanged bearish ideas as to why the stock price might go lower from here. One of our programmers told a story about how is 80 year old mother sent him an invite to ‘connect’ on LinkedIn: This elderly lady unfortunately fell for a well known trap where LinkedIn logs into your email account and collects all of your contacts and indiscriminately sends every one of them an invitation to ‘connect on Linkedin’. You can read about this unethical practice and the class action law suit at the New York Times.
Social Network users: Quality vs. Quantity vs. Non-Existent
Linkedin no doubt counted this 80 year old mother and each one of her vulnerable, elderly contacts who clicked on an Invite as an actual ‘user’, even though she won’t use the site again (and neither will her contacts). Users acquired under such unscrupulous circumstances would explain the sky-high user numbers Linkedin and Facebook reports each quarter, and would also explain their high valuations.
Facebook also uses similar tactics to increase their user base. Their approach isn’t quite as aggressive, but it’s equally unethical.
This raises the question: What is the actual number of ‘quality’ Facebook’s users?