What will Facebook and Linkedin IPOs mean for the enterprise?

Experts argue that Facebook and Linkedin IPOs could see the sites better serving their enterprise customers

The wires are awash with the news that social networking sites Linkedin and Facebook are both considering IPOs.

Insiders at Linkedin have said that the organisation, which has 85 million users across 200 countries, is planning to register for an IPO in the first quarter of this year; however, no details have been released on the likely financials.

Blogger at the Financial Times Richard Waters argued that although it doesn't need money right away, as it still has more than half the $100m (£64m) it has raised privately, the rate of increase of members at one million every three weeks or so means it wouldn't hurt to have more capital.

This announcement followed one from Facebook to investors on Tuesday, stating that the site might embark on an IPO as early as April 2012.

Facebook, which has been valued at €50bn, is facing a legal requirement that it go public because it is nearing the 500 investors mark, which will mean it is legally required to release its financial information to the public, removing the main advantage to being privately owned.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook's intentions have been under heavy debate since it launched a private share offering through the Goldman Sachs Group earlier this week.

But what will these IPOs mean for the business community? Well, some social media experts argue that with a heightened profit motive, resulting from both sites being answerable to shareholders, they are likely to better tailor their offering to their most solvent customers - namely the enterprise.

This might come as a blessed relief for some in the business community, with a recent report from analyst firm Forrester arguing that the social media landscape had become a cluttered and noisy space, making it difficult for businesses to reap benefits from their marketing efforts in this arena.

Listen to Computing's weekly podcast Tech Talk 16 for an analysis of the likely impact of the announcements.