MAKING MARKETS: INFORMATION and PARODY in VICTORIAN COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATION

Abstract

In the early months of 2012 excitement built for the initial public offering of Facebook, the behemoth social media company with the boy-wonder CEO. Two days before shares began trading on May 18, the IPO was expected to generate 16 billion for the company, placing it third after General Motors and Visa in the list of largest IPOs in the United States to that date. In the frenzy leading up to the IPO, the New York Times reported waiting lists at events for potential investors and speculation about where newly minted Facebook billionaires would go for a drink, while the company revealed its plans to celebrate with a hackathon featuring employee DJs and Red Bull (Rusli and Eavis).