Hi Dantheman, you are right. It's not a perfect analogy. There's not really any closer analogy, though. I state this later in the post, if you read through the whole thing (including saying "like a Ponzi scheme"):

"Yet, their value and growth continues because they can use that money to grow their user-base more and assert profitability (in this sense it's not quite entirely a ponzi scheme, but there is no closer idea). It's possible that they do not even realize that they are like a Ponzi scheme."

Moreover, I recognize that Facebook isn't necessarily doing this on purpose (whereas in a real ponzi scheme a competent accountant has to scheme willfully).

Nevertheless, I hope you agree that the positive feedback, the bubble effects, and the deceptive illusion of growth all have analogs to Facebook (if you assume the premise, of course).

I think you are right that I should have used "like a" Ponzi scheme throughout the post, but the writing and the point would have lost a lot of its effect in explaining that. The metaphor is better than the simile.

My main motivation was to make people think about the reality of Facebooks revenue. It may be less solid than social proof makes it seem.