That this business — a monstertangle(纠纷) of digital connections — could become a global corporate colossus(巨像) in less than a decade is atestament(遗嘱) to the explosive(爆炸的) growth of the social Web. The stock offering will come as Facebook’s peers, Google and Amazon, have disappointed investors in their latest quarters with sales growth shy of expectations. (来源：专业英语学习网站 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

“Fifteen years ago, AOL was the Internet to most people, five years ago it was Google, now Facebook is the Internet,” said Lise Buyer, a former Google executive who helped guide the company’s initial public offering in 2004. “Facebook’s I.P.O. will prove that there is an enormous(庞大的) amount of money to be made in the social media space.”

Led by Mr. Zuckerberg, Facebook has been trying to hang on to its start-up spirit, even as it takes its place among Silicon Valley’s elite. In Menlo Park, Calif., its new headquarters, employees have wrapped the walls with graffiti(墙上乱写乱画的东西) splatter(使水等飞溅)art. Exposed pipes and air ducts line the ceilings and below, scuffed(磨损) gray floorsresemble(类似) a modified racetrack with white lines.

Facebook’s biggest stumbling(障碍的) block has been privacy. It has repeatedlyalienated(疏远) users over privacy — as in the case of the 2007 controversy(争论) over Beacon, a tool that automatically posted on Facebook what its users did or bought on other sites. It has also faced lawsuits over the use of its members’ “like”endorsements(认可) in ads and drawn scrutiny(详细审查) for a facial recognition feature.

The company announced a settlement agreement in November with the Federal Trade Commission, which accused(控告) the company of having deceived(欺骗) its customers about privacy settings. And the pressure from regulators(调整者) is likely to grow. Facebook now faces potential rules on privacy in Europe, along with slow-moving privacylegislation(立法) in Washington.

The company’s flubs(失策) in this area reveal a fundamental tension(张力) in the waysophisticated(弄复杂) ad-supported sites work. Consumers’ time and information are effectively the price they pay for free Web services. Facebook allows its users to keep up with far-flung(遥远的) friends and family, for instance, in exchange for that information. Google allows anyone to search for anything, so long as the company can serve up ads based on those searches.