Chain letter circulating among Facebook members claims the service is overpopulated and 'becoming very slow,' so members must prove they're still active by forwarding the message to others or their accounts will be deleted.
Description: Hoax / Chain email
Circulating since: Dec. 2007
Status: False
Chain email example contributed by K. Sararas, Dec. 17, 2007:
Attention all Facebook membeRs.Facebook is recently becoming very overpopulated, There have been many members complaining that Facebook is becoming very slow. Record shows that the reason is that there are too many non-active Facebook members And on the other side too many new Facebook members.
We will be sending this messages around to see if the Members are active or not, If you're active please send to other users using Copy+Paste to show that you are active Those who do not send this message within 2 weeks, The user will be deleted without hesitation to create more space,
If Facebook is still overpopulated we kindly ask for donations but until then send this message to all your friends and make sure you send this message to show me that your active and not deleted.
Founder of Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg
Analysis: False. Old hoax, new platform. Prank messages threatening Internet users with cancellation for failing to prove their accounts are still "active" predate the very existence of Facebook.
Compare the above to the "Hotmail Overload" chain letter that first began circulating in 1999:
WARNING WARNING
Hotmail is overloading and we need to get rid of some people and we want to find out which users are actually using their Hotmail accounts. So if you are using your account, please pass this e-mail to every Hotmail user that you can and if you do not pass this letter to anyone we will delete your account.From Mr. Jon Henerd
Hotmail Admin. Dept.
A graphics-enhanced 2001 variant of the Hotmail warning continued to circulate into the mid-2000s.
In 2007 the template was adapted to create the message at the top of this page, now claiming that Facebook is "overpopulated" and users must verify their activity via chain letter. It's no more true now than it was four years ago when the same was being said of Hotmail.
Facebook officials have announced nothing of the kind. Businesses on this scale don't issue misspelled and ungrammatical chain letters to their members. Even if they did, they wouldn't say they "need to get rid of some people" to make room for everyone else.
File this moronic message in the trash bin where it belongs.
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Sources and further reading:
Hotmail Overload
Netlore Archive, Oct. 1999Hotmail 'My Account Is Active' Hoax
Netlore Archive, Oct. 2001
Last updated: 07/07/09
