Ballmer: Facebook Risks Being "A Fad"

Ballmer: Facebook Risks Being "A Fad"

Steve Ballmer, the Microsoft chief executive, believes that the craze for individual social networks such as Facebook risks being exposed as a "fad", an admission that places questions over the software giant's mooted interest in the website.

"I think these things [social networks] are going to have some legs, and yet there's a faddishness, a faddish nature about anything that basically appeals to younger people," Mr Ballmer told Times Online yesterday.

The remarks follow reports last week that the Microsoft boss, who has committed himself to stir up Microsoft's lacklustre share price by extending the group's online presence, is weighing up taking a stake in Facebook that could value the social networking site at $10 billion (£5 billion).

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