The world will be without Facebook within five to 8 years, an analyst said, citing how Yahoo largely disappeared after its initial push skyrocketed the company into the global scene a decade ago. Eric Jackson, the founder of Ironfire Capital said that although Yahoo is still around, it isn't the same company it was when it made its big splash at the beginning of the Internet age. “Yahoo is still making money. It's still profitable, still has 13,000 employees working for it. But it's 10 per cent of the value that it was at the height of 2000. For all intents and purposes, it's disappeared.” Jackson added that thus far there have been three generations of Internet companies. Yahoo, a Web portal, is a great example as an online pioneer. Facebook then swept in as the second generation with the wave of social media. The third generation is all about mobile, he said. While this assertion raised a ruckus online this week, other industry analysts wouldn't be shocked if the prediction comes true. Facebook's February IPO filing revealed that the company had more than 425 million monthly active mobile users during December 2011, or about half of its worldwide user base, analysts said.
