After weeks of waiting, Facebook finally hit the stock market on Friday 18 May 2012.

With all the hype around the much talked about IPO gone, reality showed the real impact of the social networking giant’s debut on the stock market: “After jumping more than 10 percent at the start of trading, shares of Facebook pulled back in their market debut Friday, suggesting a cooler-than-expected reception for one of the most watched initial public offerings of stock of recent years”, wrote Roland Jones of msnbc.msn.com.

Just a few days before, an article appeared in Forbes questioning whether Facebook still had those qualities that made it world-famous back in 2006, when Zuckerberg’s adventure started.

“Facebook became the preeminent college social network for two reasons: exclusivity and simplicity. Early adopters were promised that they were participating in a closed-off network that they could share safely in, and the layout offered a refreshing counterbalance to the colourful jumble that MySpace had become. In the early days, it was a real community”, wrote Dave Thier on May 14th.

The author wondered if the IPO would mean a further loss of this initial authenticity and, now that Facebook is present on the stock market, what the consequences of the next ”cool kid” dethroning Zuckerberg would be on the financial markets.

For now the IPO ride has just begun, and it would take some time for stock market observers and investors to draw conclusions.

On the upside though it is reassuring to see that there is still something hype and glamour cannot fully buy: people’s rational thinking.