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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Never mind the Mayans and 2012, for some people the world was scheduled to end March 15, 2011.
A story began circulating in the satirical news site Weekly World News, whose other headlines include Megan Fox is a Man, Alien Spaceships to Attack Earth in 2011, and a report on how to sell your soul to the devil.
Weekly World News reported Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will be shut down in March. Managing the site has become too stressful.
"Facebook has gotten out of control," said Zuckerberg in a press conference outside his Palo Alto office, "and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness."
Zuckerberg went on to explain that starting March 15th, users will no longer be able to access their Facebook accounts.
"After March 15th the whole website shuts down," said Avrat Humarthi, Vice President of Technical Affairs at Facebook.
The rumor got more than a few Facebook users upset. One said: "Facebook is shutting down on March 15, 2011 for good D: Is there any way we can stop this!?!?" And a group has already started to stop Facebook from shutting down.
The Huffington Post reported that ironically, Yahoo announced last month that its "Yahoo Video" will be closing down on the date in question, March 15, 2011, and videos can be seen for the last time on March 14.
Whatever the reason for this rumor, it's safe to say that as a site with more than 500 million users and a $500 millon investment from Goldman Sachs recently, Facebook won't be shutting down anytime soon.
Facebook has officially responded to the rumors with a tweet: "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." A company spokesman also dismissed the rumors as "silliness."
Security site Sophos reminds Facebook users there's an important lesson here — don't believe everything you read on the internet, and think twice before you pass a story on to your friends.
Sophos says you can stay informed about the latest scams, hoaxes and malware attacks by joining the Sophos Facebook page, where more than 50,000 people regularly share information on threats and discuss the latest security news.
Snopes.com also says the report is false, reporting that such rumors are a common Internet hoax.
Meanwhile, the Weekly World News reports that Charles Manson has written a children's book.
We report, you decide.
