The month is almost over, but some people are still going back to the first day of April by creating April Fools' Day pranks. A recent joke, similar to YouTube's announcement on March 31 that it will close the popular video sharing site, is a post in Facebook that founder Mark Zuckerberg decided to shutter the most popular social networking site with 1 billion members.

The post, made on April 25, quoted Mr Zuckerberg as saying during an alleged press conference in his Palo Alto office, "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 post said that beginning May 15, 2013, Facebook members could no longer access their accounts, quoting Avrat Humarthi, said to the Facebook's VP of Technical Affairs. Mr Humarthi was said to have warned members to remove their photos posted on Facebook or they would not get them back once the portal closes.

"I personally don't think it's a big deal ... And to be honest, I think it's for the better. Without Facebook, people will have to go outside and make real friends. That's always a good thing," the post further quoted Mr Zuckerberg.

However, Mashable quoted an official reply from Facebook Director of Corporate Communication Larry Yu that belies the closure news. "The answer is no, so please help us put an end to this silliness."

He added, "We didn't get the memo about shutting down and there's lots to do, so we'll just keep cranking away like always."

Mashable pointed out that the fake news came from a site that is notorious for reports about impending attacks by alien spaceships and U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama being pregnant.

It added closing Facebook would seem inconsistent with recent announcement of $450 million funding from Goldman Sachs and another $50 million from Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment company.