Facebook Shutting Down March 15 Rumors Return

Back in January a rumor that Facebook would be shutting down on March 15 sparked distress in the social networking world.

Though Facebook debunked the rumor soon after it began, it resurfaced on March 15 for round two.

Facebook is up and running as usual, but some Twitter users are concerned that the site may actually go down at some point on March 15.

The original rumor, which stated that Facebook would shut its doors online and at its headquarters in Palo Alto, is believed to have been started on January 8 by satirical news site Weekly World News. The phony article even included a "quote" from Mark Zuckerberg. "Facebook has gotten out of control,” the Zuckerberg quote read, "and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness.”

Facebook's official Twitter feed, on the other hand, was quick to brush the January rumor aside. "We didn't get the memo about shutting down, so we'll keep working away. We aren't going anywhere; we're just getting started," read a Facebook tweet on January 9. The same day, a Facebook spokesman dismissed the rumor as "silliness."

On March 12, the World Weekly News issued a tongue-in-cheek backtrack to the hoax, writing that President Obama mandated a "bailout" to "save" Facebook.

Comments

[Barry P]

01:11 PM on 03/17/2011

Well it's the 17th and Facebook has failed to shut down as scheduled. Can't they do anything right?

[Widespread Panic]

11:20 PM on 03/16/2011

Sometimes I wish it would. ..

[missy]

09:49 PM on 03/16/2011

All this has done is make the Facebook site slow as hell tonight for those of us trying to game. For the past two days it has been impossible to play, all because of a rumor. I don't care for Facebook, but I do like the game Vampire Wars and it happens to be available on Facebook. To think that a stupid rumor could bring the site to a crawl is ridiculous.

It would be the same as if the Huffington Post were down for 48 hours+ or any of your other favorite websites and you had no access to them, all because of a stupid rumor. No one seems to know how long this is going to last.

[Peter Mueller]

04:29 PM on 03/16/2011

i had to delete my facebook account bc of this

http://www.abouteveryone.com/

[Desolati0n]

12:59 PM on 03/16/2011

If facebook were to be shutdown an exact replica would take it's place, or people would go back to Myspace.

[ceez]

11:27 AM on 03/16/2011

a bailout to save fb....lol

but yeah, if it closes who cares....everyone get back to work and life outside your monitor.

[MEDASI]

11:13 AM on 03/16/2011

PEOPLE ARE SO FUGGIN STUPID AND GULLIBLE!!

[paulbenjouse]

10:36 AM on 03/16/2011

If only

[brownfrown]

09:14 AM on 03/16/2011

You guys heard the one rumor of DoJ ordering Dayton Police Department to lower their entry exam passing score from D to and F, so more black people can be police officers?

[brownfrown]

09:15 AM on 03/16/2011

D to an* F

[rod1948]

08:41 AM on 03/16/2011

When pigs fly !

[darter22]

08:07 AM on 03/16/2011

I heard somewhere that Cameron Diaz is starting a competing site called SitOnYourFacebook. I might join that one.

[XFilesTheTruthIsOutThere]

07:31 AM on 03/16/2011

I won't be losing any sleep if Facebook is shut down.

[jamsie]

04:00 AM on 03/16/2011

I don't care one way or the other if it shuts down.

I don't know why, it's a gut feeling, but I do not like, nor would I trust Mr. man boy Zuckerberg as far as I could throw him.

[gn0me]

03:25 AM on 03/16/2011

Good Riddance. I will toast to that . Amen...