Facebook Status: These New Digs Are Sweet!

New Facebook office has skateboards, ping pong, free candy, and a basketball court

Recession? What recession?

While the rest of Silicon Valley licks its wounds in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Facebook is partying like it's 1999. The most recent evidence of social networking company's optimism is a new 137,000 square-foot office full of dotcom-era amenities.

The work space, located at the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, is over 50,000 square feet larger than Facebook's former digs on University Avenue spread across several buildings. Employees use skateboards to travel around the new office. 

The building boasts a ping pong table, an outdoor basketball court, minikitchens stocked with candy and snacks, and conference rooms with names like "Guitartar Hero" (a play on the popular music game and the sauce). The company encourages employees to doodle on the glass walls.

While such amenities may seem in bad taste in light of the challenging economy, Facebook has reason to feel playful. Their user user count has ballooned to 200 million, and analysts expect that the company's ad sales will rise 20 percent this year to $300 million. 

In contrast, former social networking giant MySpace just announced that it will cut 400 employees from its staff, with its large San Francisco office reportedly taking cuts.

 All Things Digital took us on a tour:

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