Hooper, Simon. Facebook turns 5 -- but can it survive? http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/04/facebook.anniversary/index.html?eref=rss_tech

Facebook, the social networking site recently turned five years old. Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook was 19 when he launched the site from his Harvard dorm room in 2004. The site rapidly expanded and five years later, the web site claims more than 150 million users. Facebook received a one billion dollar bid from yahoo in 2004 which was rejected and in 2007 Microsoft bought a 1.6 % share of face book for 250 million dollars. If the 1.6% share of Facebook is worth 250 million, then the entire site is worth 15 billion, but questions have arose about the staying power and real value of the site. During the November election, the presidential hopefuls used the site for campaigning.
Facebook’s popularity, especially in the younger age groups is undeniable, but is has recently expanded to include older generations even politicians. Recently, my sister in law, who is in her mid thirdies sent me a friend request. First of all I did not expect my sister in law to have Facebook but more importantly I notices how popular it was with her friends. Many of my friends spend countless hours on the site. Admittedly I do spend more time on the site than I should, but it is no where close compared to others. The popularity of the site is easy to see but the effectiveness of the site as a medium for companies to advertise is not so easy for me to comprehend. When I login to the site I never look at the ads and I do not imagine that many people do. As long as Facebook continues to make money, I fore see it being around for sometime to come.