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From the Editor 
Hi there, While I was waiting for a fairy godmother to come and do this newsletter I read an article in the local paper (yes, a real newspaper) about Facebook’s US$100 billion public float, the basis of which I do not quite understand, even though I am one of the 800 million users who made it possible. The figure is quite astonishing for a Kiwi -- I mean, the value of our whole economy is only about $135 billion. Perhaps the government could do an IPO and raise the funds to make us top of the South Sea Island Paradise market… What caught my attention more than all the facts and figures, though, was a sidebar with the five core values that Mark Zuckerberg has set out for investors: Focus on impact -- by always solving the most important problems. The difficulty I see with this is knowing which are the most important problems. For example, in my article today about a Harvard Business School report, I find that business leaders seem to be unaware of the most fundamental problem of the US economy. “Move fast and break things” -- If you never break anything you are not moving, ergo learning, fast enough. Personally, I find I break things by moving too slowly. If you listen carefully you may hear the sound of my New Year’s resolution to send this newsletter out before Kiwi and Aussie workers leave their desks on Friday shattering. Be bold -- Building great things means taking risks. This I agree with completely; publishing your opinions to the world is along those lines. Be open -- “A more open world is a better world because people with more information make better decisions,” says Zuckerberg. Hmmm. Disagree. Quality rather than quantity is what counts in information as in all areas of life, “and the wisdom to know the difference”. FB tests that wisdom to the limit; indeed, someone has suggested that TMI would have been a more fitting stock ticker symbol than the FB the company chose. Build social value -- Facebook expects everyone to focus every day on how to build real value for the world in everything they do. Agreed, one hundred per cent. A high ideal but very much in sync with MercatorNet’s aims. We may have a slightly different idea of “value” but then, that is what the business of communication is all about. I am sure you will find added value in Tom Lickona’s second article on emerging adulthood, and George Friedman’s interesting analysis of Germany’s role in the eurozone crisis. Among the blogs I have to say that Sheila Liaugminas is going gangbusters on the American political scene. Quite fascinating. Cheers,
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