You're Growing Up So Fast, Facebook

Reuters put out an article today ("VC enthusiasm for Web 2.0 startups slowing -report": http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSN1817786020080318?sp=true) saying that the flow of venture capital into social networks, blogs and other Web 2.0 ventures is beginning to slow. They say this signals a sign of mature for the business.

I wonder if it signals a sign of maturity or more that people are waiting to see what the next big thing will be. Facebook has been around for a while now. It started in my dorm back at Harvard and I was one of the first members of the site. Over the past 4 years it has certainly changed a lot but I sometimes wonder how much life it has left in it. It is a contract-free entity of millions of web users who could bolt at any minute. The crew over at Facebook has managed their base quite well through a few uproars like the Newsfeed (which I despised originally, but have grown quite fond of) and Facebook Ads, but you have to wonder how they will ever be able to monetize the site that is full of users who consider themselves above being marketed to. What happens when/if the site is sold to a power player like Yahoo, Microsoft, etc? Do you think the users will stay or do you think someone, somewhere will invent the next cool thing and the user group migrate there (and increased VC funding will follow)? Don't get me wrong, people dig the usability of the site and have somewhat of an emotional attachment to it, but I tend to think the latter given the "Fight the Man" attitudes of the primary, heavy users.