If you encounter the sad, heartbreaking news that Facebook will be shutting down on March 15 this year, don’t weep. Apparently, there’s a silly rumor has exploded on the Internet this weekend claiming that Facebook is shutting down because CEO Mark Zuckerberg “wants his old life back,” and wants to “put an end to all the madness.”
This has been officially denied by Facebook Director of Corporate Communications Larry Yu, much to the relief and delight of over 500 million Facebook users. When Mashable asked him via e-mail if Facebook was shutting down, he responded: “the answer is no, so please help us put an end to this silliness.”
The rumor spread via a website that also reported impending attacks of alien spaceships as well as an 0bviously false report of a Michelle Obama pregnancy – all of which should have immediately made people think twice about the veracity of the report. After all, Zuckerberg was just named Time Person of the Year, and Facebook just announced a round of funding, consisting of $450 million from Goldman Sachs and $50 million from Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies.
Never-the-less, the rumor spread quickly and had many Facebook users in a temporary state of panic.
