Many things were expected of Facebook's IPO, but lawsuits, recriminations and disappointment probably did not factor among them. The social networking site's float took place on 18 May, but was plagued by NASDAQ tech glitches, before the company's share price began to drop. 

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with several banks led by Morgan Stanley, have since been sued by disgruntled shareholders that claim investors were misled about the company’s growth potential.

Facebook’s IPO was priced at $38 per share, but had dropped to as low as $31 last week, eventually ending the week down four percent. Meltwater Buzz has analysed online response to the Facebook IPO; one month before the listing, sister service Meltwater News revealed that over 13,570 online articles had covered this story in the US press alone.



Unsurprisingly, Meltwater Buzz recorded the highest buzz on 18 May, when shares were first made available. As Facebook’s share price began to drop, online conversations around the news continue to surge.

Sentiment of online conversations is split towards negativity: 53 percent versus 47 percent positive. The platform of choice to discuss the news for most was Twitter, accounting for 60 percent of online reaction. Discussion is predominately by men (74 percent), with 18-to-24 year olds being the most active age group.