Will Facebook 'Be Closed For Maintenance' Later This Month? Viral Hoax Claims It Will

Breathe easy, Facebookers. The warning going around claiming that "Facebook will be closed for maintenance from February 29th to 31st" is nothing to worry about.

That's because, if you check your calendar, none of the dates in that range will be taking place this year. The next time there will be a Feb. 29 is 2016, and Feb. 30 and 31 have never been real dates.

The silly "maintenance" warning hoax went viral this week as a message warning users of the super-popular social media site made the rounds on the Internet, scaring Facebook addicts and raising alarm about why the site would take such an unprecedented move.

"WARNING!! Facebook will be closed for maintenance from February 29th to 31st!!" one version of the message reads, according to Naked Security. "Facebook wants YOU to Share this message with at least 15 of your friends for the best chance of alerting everyone. Many people will try to log in from February 29 to 31, just to find the site closed down for those days with no warning."

The message appears to have originally spread via a similar message written in French, according to Naked Security.

"Attention !! Facebook sera fermé pour maintenance du 29 au 31 février," one French-language version of the post states. "Faites passer à vos contacts pour qu'ils soient au courant!!!"

But no matter where it originated, the warning is making the rounds quickly, and people seem to be concerned about just what it means for them and their Facebook activity.

And one more thing we know: It's much like in 2011, when nearly identical messages made the rounds, according to posts from that year on Yahoo Answers.