Pew

Facebook's IPO will newly mint many millionaires, nevertheless many of the social network's 845 million users can't be accorded the same largesse.

The majority of Facebook users receive more from their Facebook friends than they give, according to new information from the Pew Internet Project, which only counted from a small pool of 269 respondents who agreed to release their activity data.

Keith Hampton, the lead author of the Pew Internet report, called the activity patterns "fascinating," noting the results are skewed by so-called "power users" who contribute much more content than the typical user.

What all of this means as Facebook prepares to consummate its $5 billion IPO, expected to be the largest for a U.S. Internet company in the history of openly traded companies, is less clear.

The more isolated users on the network

Or like as not Facebook will incent power users to reach out to the more isolated users on the network. Facebook user brand pages, recommended on the right-hand side of users' accounts, may undoubtedly help.

The company will truly find some way to make money from many of its users via advertising. The IPO will by the way put pressure on the company to cement its revenue streams.

One thing in other words clear: The network effect remains strong. Pew said some Facebook users with large, sparsely connected friend lists could reach an average of more than 150,000 other Facebook users through friends of friends. But, even the average users could reach more than 31,000 people.