Public has mixed feelings about Facebook ahead of IPO, poll shows

WASHINGTON -- As Facebook Inc. readies its initial public offering, average Americans and investors aren’t quite sure they want to hit the “like� button.

About half of the public thinks Facebook stock would be a good investment, but many others have serious reservations about the company as an investment and particularly about its ability to protect the privacy of users, according to a poll by the Associated Press and CNBC released Tuesday.

With shares set to trade on Friday, 51% of respondents said Facebook would be a good investment. But 31% said it would not be such a good investment, and 17% were unsure.

Road to IPO

Those who own stocks, mutual funds or bonds were a bit more likely to give the Facebook IPO thumbs up, with 54% saying it would be a good investment and 35% saying it would not.

Active investors were more likely than other investors to say Facebook would not be a good investment, with 38% giving it a thumbs down.

Facebook’s valuation of about $100 billion makes the company overvalued, according to 62% of active investors surveyed in the poll. Just 27% said the company’s value would be fairly priced and 5% said it would be undervalued.

Among all the 1,004 respondents, 50% said Facebook was overvalued.

Potentially more disconcerting to Facebook executives were the poll’s broader findings about the company.

Nearly six in 10 Facebook users -- 59% -- said they did not trust the company with their personal information or have little or no faith that it would protect their privacy. Just 13% said they trusted the company completely or a lot.

And 57% said they never click on advertising or sponsored links on the site, and 26% say they hardly ever did so. A majority -- 54% -- also said they would not feel safe purchasing goods or services through the site.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg fared better in the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Although just 18% of respondents said they had deep confidence in his ability to run a large publicly traded company, 40% said they were somewhat confident.

Among active investors, 42% said they had a mostly positive impression of Zuckerberg, with 14% viewing him unfavorably. Of all respondents, 36% had a favorable impression, and 14% unfavorable.

Interestingly, people who saw the move “The Social Network,� which portrayed Zuckerberg negatively, had a more favorable impression of him than those who didn’t.

And 45% of respondents said Zuckerberg’s age -- he turned 28 Monday -- wouldn’t matter in his ability to run the company. More respondents (21%) said it was an asset than those said it was liability (11%).

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