A poll recently conducted by AP-CNBC revealed that 46% of Americans believe that Facebook doesn’t have long term staying power. The sample consisted of 1,004 adults nationwide who were interviewed via landline and cell phones. The poll results come just before Facebook’s initial public offering; 50 % of respondents also mentioned that the asking price for the stock is higher than it should be. Facebook, in spite of all its success, has always polarized users in equal measure.

There’s also a marked contrast in the views of people coming from a different age group — the people who grew up with the network seem to favor it more as compared to older people — both as a network and as an investment. The Achilles heel of course, as always, is privacy. And rightly so, going by how Mark famously proclaimed that, “The age of privacy is over.” Though there are ways with which you can safeguard your privacy to the extent possible, it still manages to stick out like a sore thumb in an otherwise great success story.

The privacy issue is a stinger. Three of every five Facebook users say they have little or no faith that the company will protect their personal information. Only 13 percent trust Facebook to guard their data, and only 12 percent would feel safe making purchases through the site. Even Facebook’s most dedicated users are wary — half of those who use the site daily say they wouldn’t feel safe buying things on the network.

via Poll: Half of Americans call Facebook a fad – Yahoo! News.