Facebook Comes Out of the Closet

Facebook is now a public company. It has filed a $5 billion IPO that is expected, in all likelihood, to be the proverbial mother of its kind. Before it trades its first share, however, it has yet to choose an

. Resiliently private until now, Facebook had been contemplating an initial public offering that has been expected--for a long time now--to topple all records in the tech space. $10 billion in funds raised the first day alone and an overall valuation as high as $100 billion have been numbers long thrown up and about. The change of heart is said to have come as Facebook realized sometime last year it would soon exceed 500 shareholders. When it did, it knew it would have to abide by certain SEC rules that require public disclosure of information. Out with the IPO filing, the famed social network lifts the skirt and lets the public in on its financials for the first time ever.

, while a little light compared to some expectations, are nonetheless very impressive. For 2011, Facebook reveals it had $3.71 billion in revenue, which was an 88 percent increase from the year before. The profit? One billion dollars, 65 percent more than in 2010. Facebook has long been reluctant of a public offering, though one was suggested perhaps as soon as the company was seen to go places. Mark Zuckerberg is famous for holding the reins close to the vest, in the face of humongous amounts of capital dangled in front of him from the likes of Google

and friends. It has arguably been the company's key to success that Mr. Zuckerberg did not cede control. In a private Facebook, technocrats have so far been allowed to take the company as far as it could go, wherever that direction ended being. Now a public company, Facebook has to look forward to having the “grown ups” complain and moan about share price. For the first time, the public also got to know more last night about what keeps Facebook worrying. Released statements show that Google is a key competitor that, so far at least, knows a lot more about its users (due to its search capabilities) and has a far higher monetization per user. As far as the elephant in the room, it is safe to say Facebook is no Zynga

or Groupon NASDAQ: GRPN). The company has changed the way we communicate with each other, and it does not take a genius to see its true potential as a business. Its 2011 numbers are just the start to its story. The cautionary tales of other Internet companies of late need not apply. While Facebook competes with opponents as formidable as Google in its bread-and-butter product, advertising, it has already made inroads with key brands that see its site as key to their customer outreach success. The advertising industry has long relied on attaching commercial messages to celebs that attract eyeballs. Facebook has turned our friends--and ourselves--into stars of our immediate circles, and that kind of interest may prove to be the new prevailing model of the ubiquitous advertising industry. Considering this, expectations of a record IPO are not without legs to stand on. As for IPO records, Google holds it currently for tech companies, with $1.9 billion raised in its 2004 public offering. It will be the food for the media in the next two to three months to discuss on how, or whether, Facebook will topple its fiercest competitor from its throne.