Look for a LinkedIn IPO, but not in the near future. Company co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman has revealed his (and his investors') exit strategy, even if it could take a while to get there. Any social media company IPO would take a while to get off the ground in this market, since companies are being incredibly cautious. So, "not anytime soon" could coincide with a change in market conditions ... but Hoffman stopped well short of that.

At an event in London to celebrate LinkedIn's hitting the 3 million user mark in Britain, Hoffman said about the company's IPO prospects, "Probably at some point a balance will occur when that's the right thing. That will not occur in the near term." Worldwide, LinkedIn has 53 million members.

Facebook is implementing a new stock structure to make sure the founders retain control, immediately causing rumors about an impending initial public offering. Why would Facebook need Class A and Class B shares otherwise? Under the new structure, which is similar to Google's (GOOG), Mark Zuckerberg and other early entrants wouldn't have to worry about yielding the floor to outsiders when if the company goes public.

The stock structure was adopted to ensure that existing shareholders keep control on voting issues, according to Facebook statement. No details were given as to who the winners are in this arrangement, but a Wall Street Journal report says that, according to its sources, all current shareholders would be converted to Class B shares, which carry 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares.

Wednesday's strong IPO of Fortinet is yet another sign that investors are warming up to early-stage deals -- especially of fast-growing companies.

So does this mean we'll see a public offering of a company like Facebook?

Maybe so. According to Bloomberg News, there has been lots of activity in the private shares of Facebook, which have spiked 42% over the past couple months. The valuation now comes to about $9.5 billion.

Although I have a couple of different topics concerning the life of someone who travels frequently for work that I wanted to write about this week, my mind and heart are filled with thoughts and concerns for a good friend and his new baby girl. I've been waiting for weeks to get a status on his new baby girl, and this morning I heard that since her birth Monday night, she's been in the intensive care unit. As soon as I read the update, my heart began to ache, and my eyes started to tear. Now, I'm not the most sensitive person in the world, but the thought of my friend's baby girl struggling for her life just rips me apart.

Throughout our travels, we get the opportunity to meet more people than imaginable. Some people we would love to call a friend and see every day, and some we hope to never see again! Years ago (not that many years), it was easy to travel, work with customers or vendors, and bid farewell, never to see them again. However, in the days of LinkedIn and Facebook, the ability to maintain contact with a one-time introduction becomes as easy as catching up on the day's news.

Once upon a time, Mac users could brag they were much safer from malicious electronic attacks. After all, in the days before Google (GOOG), when Microsoft (MSFT) was the only uber-player in town, Windows was the perpetual malware target. Phishers, however, aren't discriminating; they're just looking for an account to plunge. So, both Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft users are threatened. Virus writers do tend to focus on the Windows operating system, which owns 90% of the OS market, but phishers are platform independent.

Phishing involves attempts to get a user to reveal information about their accounts. Once the soon-to-be victim clicks that link or fills out a form, the "transaction" is complete -- no operating system interaction necessary. As a result, there really isn't any advantage to using a Mac over a PC.

An unemployment rate of 10.2% means that serious jobseekers are using every tool they can find. So, it's not at all shocking that social networking tools top the list, with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter leading the charge. Openings are being tweeted, hints of a new position are being monitored and hot candidates are being hit up directly, even if they aren't saying they're on the prowl for a new gig. Social media is a tool to use in a job hunt but not necessarily the only one, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Instead, it makes sense to balance a search with many tools.

John Challenger, CEO, says, "The job search has changed radically over the last two decades with the advent of electronic mail, the internet, social networking, smart phones, etc. However, it is important to remember that all of these technologies simply enhance the job search; they will never replace the face-to-face connections that are critical to a successful search." But, he continues that "we feel that these new networking tools are essential and now advise all of the job seekers going through our program to open LinkedIn accounts and to consider other services such as Facebook and Twitter.

Imagine taking the personal connections and interactions that occur every day on the likes of Facebook and Twitter... and bringing them to bear on an education. To a large extent, this hasn't been done yet, but the potential is profound. In a new report by the Center for Community Survey for Student Engagement, two-year programs aren't taking advantage of the tools at their disposal -- plenty of growth is still possible. Kay McClenney, director of the CCSSE, says, "Colleges are not taking advantage of that particular set of tools for making connections with students to the extent that they could."

The recession has led everyone with a budget to question ever line. From households to businesses to state and federal governments, nothing is sacred. Finding new ways to get the same result without spending the same amount mean not having to make sacrifices. NASA has been under considerable financial pressure, as many question the value of sinking cash into space travel. So, it has to get creative in justifying its existence ... and in generating excitement about the agency and what it does.

When the space shuttle launches on Monday, 200 thumbs will be at the ready. NASA has deputized 100 of its top fans on Twitter to come to the launch and tweet the experience. These fans are estimated to have more than 150,000 followers, all with the potential to retweet the messages they see. Every click of an iPhone or Blackberry will give NASA more exposure, building the excitement it needs to keep the operation afloat. So, whether you realize it or not, the launch is being brought to you by Twitter, Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM), even if only implicitly.

BT Group, which virtually owns the UK telecommunications market, isn't waiting for Google (GOOG) to launch a full attack. The company probably expects to be under assault from the search engine (and advertising and e-mail) giant, so it's taking early action. Google Voice is still being tested, but words like "free" and "powerful" and "internet-based" are bound to inspire fear in even the most established of companies.

To protect itself from the eventual attack from Mountain View, BT picked up Ribbit Mobile, and testing is in progress. Ribbit's technology has some overlap with Google Voice and even beats it with a few capabilities, according to Bloomberg. Ribbit just launched its beta product this month. It allows either the user's current phone number or a new one from Ribbit -- which is no different from Google's alternative. The product suite is generally the same, with phone- and web-based voicemail retrieval and automatic transcriptions that can be sent by text message or e-mail. For an extra fee, BT's Ribbit does provide human transcription, though it is free during testing. And, calls can be taken directly from a computer, using a microphone and speakers.

In any recession, customers get stingy. It's natural.

But is there something different this time; that is, are customers becoming long-term frugal?

Perhaps. With an unemployment rate at 10.2%, it will likely take several years for it to get to normal levels. What's more, consumers are saddled with debt and have experienced drastic reductions in wealth (especially with the fall in the real estate market).

For News Corp. (NWS), MySpace is the mistake that keeps on costing. It's bad enough that Murdoch's empire paid $500 million for the social networking platform shortly before Facebook knocked it from the premier spot in the social media beauty pageant, but now we also know that News Corp. has committed $350 million to office space for MySpace that will never be used.

News Corp is shelling out more than $1 million a month for 420,000 square feet in Playa Vista, near Los Angeles International Airport. The deal was signed in August 2008 by Peter Levinsohn, former president of the Fox Interactive Media Unit. At the time, he issued a chest-puffing memo claiming it was "the single biggest real-estate transaction in Los Angeles in the last 25 years." Fortunately, he didn't mix the word "genius" in there at all.

The Twitter ecosystem may be changing constantly, but most of that comes on the back of individual developers and outside companies. They beat on Twitter APIs to create new products that may win them glory, recognition or cash. Over the past month, though, Twitter itself has gotten into the game, releasing or announcing a handful of new features.

A new function for "retweeting" (echoing another's tweet to your own followers), changes to how trending topics are managed, and the ability to create lists are new tools intended to engage users ... on the Twitter.com website. Considered within the context of Twitter's changed terms of service this year, the upgrades may be part of a broader ad-based revenue plan.

While eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) has been working hard to manage its marketplace in a trying economy, its PayPayl business has been growing comfortably and could become the company's biggest earner. For the past two years, eBay has focused on improving the look of its website and helping buyers and sellers to get along in a virtual world built entirely on trust.

In the background, though, the segment of the business that moves money from Point A to Point B has been on fire. Even with payment processing competition from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), PayPal has been able to do more than hold its own.

Company attitudes toward social media sites vary. Some swing the doors wide open, allowing employees to tend to their Facebook farms and update Twitter statuses throughout the day. Others lock 'em down, keeping non-business site access to a minimum.

A recent study found that, in the United States, 77% of employees with Facebook accounts check in with the community from the office. And, the amount of time they're spending in this part of the online world is growing. In the United Kingdom, another study found that 57% log in regularly from work, costing their employers 40 minutes a day.

Philip Wicks, a consultant at Morse PLC, a technology research firm in London, "It isn't just something you can do for half an hour during a lunch break but all through the day and because of that, it has a huge impact because people aren't necessarily concentrating on what they should be doing during the day." He estimates that this translates to lost productivity of $2.25 billion a year.

It seems like the obvious move would be to block the sites, but William Beers of PricewaterhouseCoopers disagrees. "Instead of trying to shut it down, I think we should try to embrace these technologies, put in a nice policy that governs it and explain to users the risks related to it, provide some training and then see what business benefits we can have from it," he said.

Once upon a time, retailers measured success by the number of people walking by in the mall, how many entered the store, the percentage they spent, and basket size. Now, a world of zeroes and ones has changed their perspective entirely. Social media is expected to be the star during the coming holiday season, with retailers pushing Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter content to get in front of consumers and affect either online or in-store purchases. Smaller Christmas budgets are expected, so the fight is on to garner as large a share as possible of a shrinking pie.

Of course, nobody would come out and say, "Social media is nonsense, and I'm not getting anything for my investment." So, when the likes of Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), JCPenney (NYSE: JCP), and Target (NYSE: TGT) say that social media is connecting them with their customers and leading to more effective campaigns and product launches, do take it with a grain of salt. What can't be ignored, however, is that they're committing more resources to social media marketing, even though it's still far too soon to tell if it will be effective.