A couple of times a year, Vincenzo Cosenza prepares a new World Map of Social Networks. Before perusing the maps, I would have said, what’s the big deal? There are only a few social networks in the world and they haven’t changed all that much in the last few years.

If I had said that, I would have been wrong. You see, I’m looking at things through red, white, and blue colored glasses. Here’s a look at where the world was in June 2009.

There were seventeen social networks and thought Facebook (the dark blue) had a good foothold on the world, there’s still plenty more to look at.

Jumping ahead to the newest map, December 2012, we see quite a change.

One of the biggest stories of 2012 was the Facebook IPO. Priced at $38 and falling at times into the high teens the stock is now sitting at about two-thirds of the IPO price. If you bought in early this is still a dog. If you bought when it was around $19 you look like Gordon Gekko.

No matter where the stock is though, the Wall Street pitching machine is still screaming “buy!”. This comes from the Wall Street Journal

Facebook Inc. has gotten a thumbs-down from investors since its initial public offering. But securities analysts who work at the investment banks that did the deal have never wavered in their enthusiasm.

Since the social-networking company went public in May, analysts at Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.—Facebook’s three biggest underwriters—have issued 40 reports on the stock.