Alternate headline: “Confirmed: New dotcom bubble to burst hard.”

Facebook is seeking out Mr. Gibbs ahead of an initial public offering planned for early 2012, these people said…

Facebook, however, is pressing Mr. Gibbs to consider the job more quickly, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conversations were supposed to remain confidential.

A job for Mr. Gibbs at Facebook could be worth millions of dollars. While details of his potential compensation package have yet to be discussed, people briefed on the talks said that he would receive a cash salary as well as shares ahead of the initial offering. Facebook is being valued by some investors at more than $60 billion and could be the largest offering in history.

This is a guy who spent two solid years with the biggest megaphone in the world, and somehow his most memorable line involved dumping on his own base. That’s the sort of “messaging” know-how that’s worth $50 million in Facebook stock, I guess.

More from ABC:

“Frankly, Facebook has a hard time talking to the outside world,” said Werbach. “Ironically, the company is all about social interaction, but they are socially awkward. They’re dealing with hot-button issues like privacy, but have struggled with clearly communicating to the public.”…

The company wants someone familiar with communicating in a “pressure cooker,” Werbach said.

“Is there a tougher communications job than being spokesman for the president? I don’t think so,” said Werbach. “If you’re aspirations are to be one of most important companies in the world, you think about getting the best guy for that job.”

Supposedly the only other prospective flack they’ve interviewed for the job is former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart; the company wants “top-level White House experience,” a source tells Politico. That’s not only for prestige reasons, either: Facebook’s been expanding its lobbying footprint in D.C. to fend off new privacy regulations so they want a pipeline to the regulator-in-chief, especially now that he’s been more aggressive in using executive power to avoid roadblocks from the House GOP. Still, though: Why would they settle for Gibbs when they could get someone even more influential and less beholden to partisan dynamics? If they hire Gibbsy and the GOP takes back the White House next year, he’ll be shut out on the Hill a year and a half from now. Given that Facebook can basically print its own money, why not get someone like Bill Clinton whose phone calls will always be taken? As it is, this is like Apple hiring Scott McClellan to go out and sell the iPad 2.

For your viewing pleasure, as a gloss on Facebook, D.C., and privacy, enjoy this simply superb Onion goof from a few weeks back.