Forty-six percent of respondents in a new AP/CNBC poll believe Facebook is a fad, and “will fade away as new things come along.” The finding underscored that the country is divided, largely along generational lines, about the prospects of the social network on the eve of its massive IPO.

The survey also showed negative sentiments for a company looking to cash in on targeted ads (using available user data) and e-commerce: only 4% of users said they regularly click on ads, with 73% saying they never or hardly ever do so. And 54% said they would not feel comfortable committing a financial transaction through the site.

Privacy concerns continue to dog Facebook, as about 60% said they would not trust the company with their personal info.

But a different picture is painted when some of the results are broken down by age. A given demographics’ interest is directly related to how active the group is on Facebook:

The youngest respondents (age 35 and under) were most likely to say Facebook would be a good investment (59 percent said yes), followed by baby boomers and Generation X-ers (55 percent and roughly 50 percent, respectively), followed by seniors (only 39 percent).

What do you think? Is Facebook a good investment?

[via CNBC]

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