Hey guys – read this and let me know what you think:

Dear Facebook members, Facebook is supposed to be closing down March 15th because it is becoming very overpopulated. There have been many members complaining that Facebook is becoming very slow. Records show that there are many active Facebook members and also many new members. We will be sending this message around to see if members are active or not. If you are active please send to 15 other users using copy+paste to show that you are still active. Those who do not send this message within 2 weeks will be deleted without hesitation to make more space. Send this me>ssage to all of your friends to show that you are still active and you will not be deleted. Founder of Facebook. Remember to send this to 15 other people so your account wont be deleted.

Oh damn – “Founder of Facebook” is serious. Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg is sick of all the ridealong Facebook users – you know, the stragglers who don’t really post anything – and is looking to rid the social giant of a good chunk of its members.

Or, it’s a hoax.

Sophos reports that the infamous Facebook Shutting Down hoax has indeed resurfaced this year and is striking grandmothers and conspiracy nuts everywhere. The hoax message is propagated by the belief that Facebook needs to cut the dead weight (inactive users) in order to restore some sort of speedier functionality. All you have to do is share the message to let Zuck know you’re still there.

Of course, this has no shred of truth behind it. Facebook isn’t going anywhere. This isn’t even the first time a rumor like this has surfaced. Back in 2011, it was pretty much the same one – a March 15th shutdown date. The only difference was that the reasoning posited in that hoax was that Zuckerberg was sick of the “madness” and wanted to go back to his old life.

That rumor picked up so much steam that Facebook actually had to make an official response:

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.

— Facebook (@facebook) January 9, 2011

People, I am disappoint. I’m not talking about you – I mean, you know this is crazy. But instead of just scrolling past aunt Hilda’s screechings, I implore you to educate her. For the good of all of our news feeds, let people know that they are simply spreading a hoax.

Image via kris krüg, Flickr