Building these sites, attracting millions of users and then selling out to a bureaucratic organization, seems very familiar these days and is happening more often than not. They do realize it will be used millions in the future, but the million (or billion J ) dollar question is – will it stick? More precisely speaking, will they last, more than the usual 5-7 year shelf life?

The Economist recently provided some much needed coverage in this area.

For you Facebook fanatics out there…

According to Gulfnews.com, Facebook ”is working on a new instant messaging chat feature that runs inside Facebook, allowing users to hold spontaneous conversations with their friends on the site.The feature, called Facebook Chat, will not require that users download any special software, and will be introduced in a matter of weeks, the company said.

Use of Facebook has exploded fivefold over the past year and a half.

Two-thirds of its users are now located outside the United States compared with about 10 percent 18 months ago, when most members were students and living in the United States.”

23 year old Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg , has lured former Google executive, Ms. Sheryl Sandberg as its head of operations. A Christmas party in December, a meeting at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and some dinners later, the 38 year old Ms. Sandberg was appointed as Facebook’s No.2. [NY Times]