Social network and groups

Last update: 1:38 p.m. PT

So, it looks like investors are not too happy with Facebook today.

The company's shares plummeted in early trading, hitting a low of $33, down some 13 percent, shortly after the opening bell. By the end of the day, they had recovered slightly to close out at $34.03, down 11 percent for the first full day of post-IPO trading.

The poor performance puts Facebook much lower than its $38 initial offering price and its Friday close at $38.23. The humongous social network made its attention-grabbing stock market debut Friday.

The … Read more

Facebook's shares are trading lower on their second day on Nasdaq.

In pre-market trading this morning, the company's shares dropped 4.37 percent to $36.56, leaving them below their initial $38 offering price and their first-day close of $38.23.

Facebook's shares rose to a high of $45 on Monday before flirting with falling below their initial price. It was believed that the stock was buoyed by underwriters to ensure it didn't slip below $38.

Aside from Facebook finally going public, the big story on Friday was Nasdaq delaying its opening due to a technical glitch. … Read more

Updated at 2:33 p.m. PT

In the end, all of Facebook's major shareholders and insiders who cashed out today got their big payday. It just took a little bit longer for the company to celebrate than initially anticipated.

Facebook this morning was expected to go public at about 8 a.m. PT. However, the shares didn't start trading until approximately 8:30 a.m. PT, causing some to wonder what might have caused the hiccup. During that period, Bloomberg reported that it had received an e-mailed statement from Nasdaq, saying only that it was "experiencing a delay.&… Read more

Last update: 1:37 p.m. PT.

The world's largest social network is now a public company, and though it got off to a good start, the share price story for the day wasn't terribly inspiring.

Facebook today kicked off its IPO day at $38 a share, and in early trading, the company's stock jumped 12 percent to $42.50, and touched a high of $43.20.

But the shares took a startling plunge soon thereafter back to about the starting price before trending upward once again to just over $41 by early afternoon Eastern time. The … Read more

As Facebook prepares to start trading on the Nasdaq, a class-action lawsuit has been brought against it.

Law firm Stewarts Law US announced today that it has combined 21 privacy lawsuits against the social network into a single, class-action suit, charging the world's largest social network with violating user privacy by allegedly tracking their Web usage.

Stewarts Law is asking for $15 billion -- a sum it arrived at by calling on the U.S. Wiretap Act, which "provides statutory damages of the greater of $100 per violation per day, up to $10,000, per Facebook user," … Read more

Over the last several years since Facebook grew out of a college-focused idea into the hang-out spot for the world, the company's growth has exploded. It now has 901 million active users, making it the world's largest social network. And with $1.06 billion in revenue during the first quarter alone, it's quickly becoming a financial giant as well.

But even a massive IPO and a ton of hype isn't enough to ensure long-term success. Sure, analysts expect the company to grow, but its domination of the tech world is by no means assured. In fact, … Read more

The U.S. has long been Facebook's top market, but according to analysts, that could soon change.

Speaking to CNBC in an interview published yesterday, Gartner principal research analyst Shalini Verma said that India's strong growth and expected increase in Web users over the coming years, will help the country overtake the U.S. in total Facebook users.

"India could overtake the United States in the next three years," Verma said during the interview with CNBC. "Last year, Facebook users in India doubled. Growth will be driven by mobile internet users in second- and third-tier … Read more

Twitter is the latest Web giant to support Do Not Track.

Ed Felten, chief technology officer at the Federal Trade Commission, announced today at an Internet Week privacy panel that Twitter will now stop tracking user data from those who opt-out. According to The New York Times, which was first to report on the news, Twitter's tracking will be nixed with help from Firefox's Do Not Track feature.

Twitter confirmed Felten's statement in a tweet today, saying that the company "now supports Do Not Track." Twitter also commended the FTC for its "leadership on … Read more

Pinterest surprised Silicon Valley with the announcement overnight of a $100 million funding round led by Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten.

According to AllThingsDigital, more than $50 million of that sum came from Rakuten.

Why would Rakuten, which generated $4.7 billion in revenue last year, invest so much cash in Pinterest? According to TechCrunch, it may have a lot to do with Rakuten's interest in building its e-commerce business.

Rakuten offers user IDs similar to those from Amazon and Apple. Once people log in to a Rakuten or Rakuten-associated Web site, they can make purchases with the payment information … Read more