By: Matthew Lowery

Can you believe Facebook is NOW just about to turn 10 years old in February of 2014? Each and every day, millions of users log on to the popular social media site to check up on friends, add new photos, or post a status on what they’re up to. Our society is engrossed with Facebook, with over 1.11 billion users connecting to the site each month, this according to The Associated Press. We aren’t just attached to Facebook, we’re grasping on to all sorts of social media. Whether it be Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest, the world loves engaging in these social mediums, and apparently, we love it so much, we are willing to invest our hard earned money in it.

Two months ago, Twitter, a social media site that allows users to send out and read “tweets”, launched their IPO and it was nothing but successful. Soaring 73% above their offering price in the first day on the New York Stock Exchange, the realm of social media had scored big. Twitter hasn’t even released any financial figures, yet, their stock hit a high of $73 per share on December 26th. Since this all-time high, the stock has been steadily tumbling down and currently sits at $57 per share (which is still more than double their IPO). The public will finally get a sense of whether Twitter can handle the pressure that Wall Street brings when they release their fourth quarter financial reports on February 5th. Facebook had a torrid start with their venture into the NASDAQ, quite the opposite of Twitter’s boom, but it has now since turned around after showing their desire to expand and fixing their once Achilles heel, mobile accessibility. Facebook has seemed to have found their footing in the stock marketplace after their tough beginnings, but will Twitter be able to do the same? We will have to wait and see as 2014 starts picking up pace.

If you would’ve asked market experts and financial analyst if social media would ever have a future in stocks, the majority, if not all, would’ve scoffed and laughed at such a question. Now, it’s one of the hottest topics being discussed among these professionals. As some social media companies have triumphed (LinkedIn, Yelp), others have failed to impress investors (Zynga, Groupon). 2014 will be an interesting year for investors looking to take a chance in social media stock. Trends in social media have the tendency to take change quickly, and often, this leads to an identity crisis for the company providing the service. Need an example? Just ask MySpace.