Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), told reporters that he would not be surprised if Facebook remained independent. He also pointed out that the rise of social networks could be good for the big search company: "Social networks are creating lots and lots of content ... and that's more for us to search." Facebook now has almost 30 million active members, putting it behind News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) MySpace.

Brin's observation may simply be a factor of his own experience. Google could have been sold before it went public. Rumors are that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) had strong interest. Instead, Google watched the price of its stock go from under $100 at the time of its IPO to $545 now. With a market cap of $170 billion, the founders have become wildly wealthy.

The question, of course, is whether social networking is the next search. Can the newest rage on the internet pull in really large investments from online marketers? Did Rupert Murdoch steal MySpace for $565 million?

It may be a year or two before it is clear that independence is the right move for Facebook. By then its founders will either be very rich or full of regret.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.