Facebook has denied rumours that it is shutting down on March 15th.

Facebook is not to shut down on March 15th because of the site's founder Mark Zuckerberg getting too stressed.

Parcel delivery and courier services had been advised to beware the ides of March, after Weekly World News reported that the social media site was due to close.

"Facebook has gotten out of control and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness," the news provider reported Mr Zuckerberg as saying.

However the whole story appears to have been uncovered as a hoax, with worries about photos disappearing unjustified.

Facebook quashed the rumours in a post on the social network's Twitter account.

"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 tweeted.

The news comes as speculation mounts over the 500 million-strong social network floating on the stock market.

Posted by Rob Elliott

Article Added: 10/01/2011 09:41:37