Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg danced around the question of an IPO during an interview with Diane Sawyer this week, but Bloomberg has unveiled some additional information that gives a more specific estimate on when the social network may go public. 2012 seems to be the big year for a Facebook IPO.

Believe that if you want–the past two years have looked to the present day for Zuckerberg to take his Harvard project public. Between the steady stalling and the unfulfilled anticipation of pundits and willing investors, the value of Facebook’s IPO continues to rise.

That lets Zuckerberg buy himself more time. To do what? The same thing we do every night, Pinky.

Zuckerberg has a clear vision of what he wants Facebook to be; that’s always included a global reach and open communication around his new-age Kumbaya. Having achieved 500 million users, Facebook is on track to gain a hefty portion of the world’s population, all sharing photos and stories online. From Bloomberg,

“Waiting lets Zuckerberg, 26, hone the skills needed to steer a company that issues quarterly results while facing criticism on such matters as user privacy. Facebook, valued at $24.9 billion, would use the time to propel its user base beyond the 500 million mark reached this month and add to sales that two of the people said may double to at least $1.4 billion in 2010 from $700 million to $800 million last year.”

The privacy thing–well. There’s a whole lot to say on that subject, but it’s pretty much all been said. Between Wikileaks and Facebook, we’ve undeniably reached an inflection point regarding the social norm of public sharing. Another two years could make matters a lot better or a lot worse for Zuckerberg.

The thing about privacy is that it reaches every area of growth for the social network, its platform in particular. Facebook’s platform is now being used as a mechanism for raising comfort levels around the public sharing of information. Brilliant, but forcing out the monetization matter. An IPO for Facebook raises questions, concerns and an array of expectations for the social gaming industry, advertising, and the mobile cross section for all of the above.

In other news, major Facebook stakeholder Digital Sky Technologies is going public. DST has chosen existing investor Goldman Sachs to handle the IPO, with future plans to sell stock in the London market. The decision leaves DST with more opportunities to centralize its own social media and advertising efforts, which include investments in Facebook gaming powerhouse Zynga, among other things.