Facebook dismisses shutting down rumors

NEW YORK: Facebook has dismissed rumors that the social networking site is shutting down, after millions of its users got panicked.

"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," the New York Daily News quoted Facebook as tweeting.

The Internet rumor was sparked by a report from a website, Weekly World News.

According to their story, the social media giant would shut down in March because Mark Zuckerberg was getting too stressed out.

"Facebook has gotten out of control and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life," the newspaper quoted Zuckerberg as allegedly saying at a press conference in California.

The questionable story sent Facebook users into a panic. The phrase "Is Facebook shutting down" was the 14th most searched for on Google Saturday and the 10th most as of Sunday morning.

On Facebook itself, groups like "Against shutting down Facebook on 15th of March" popped up with the slogan "No Facebook, No Party".

On Twitter, users fretted about what would happen to their pictures.

Others started making alternate plans, saying they would move their information to MySpace, Twitter or a new service, like the one Google is rumored to be working on.