Facebook Glitch Stopped Some Users With A Lot Of Posts From Deleting Their Accounts

Facebook Glitch Stopped Some Users With A Lot Of Posts From Deleting Their Accounts

For some Facebook users who posted a lot but decided they wanted to post no more, it appears a glitch prevented them from freeing themselves from the platform. According to a new report, there was a bug that inhibited users who had “a large number of posts” from deleting their Facebook accounts.

VentureBeat reports that one user was unable to delete his Facebook profile after attempting to do so across several browsers and devices. He “had contacted Facebook multiple times,” VentureBeat reported, “and was even considering hiring a lawyer.”

However, after the publication reached out to the social network, an engineer resolved the issue, which was apparently a bug. When people with a lot of Facebook posts tried to delete their account, the company “would call up the numbers of posts that also needed to be deleted,” VentureBeat reported, adding that, “If the call was taking too long because of the large number of posts, the user would be presented with a blank page and not be able to proceed.”

It’s unclear how many users experienced this issue. VentureBeat only details one instance of this, and Facebook reportedly said they knew of one other user who had the same problem.

This is hardly the first time Facebook has blamed the machines for a wonky or, frankly, crappy user experience. In April, Facebook blamed a bug for maintaining copies of videos users had taken but subsequently discarded before posting. In June, it was a bug that temporarily changed millions of Facebook users’ privacy settings to public. The following month, the social network disclosed that a bug effectively unblocked users without informing the user. To name a few.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to Gizmodo in an email that this was a bug that impacted people with a lot of posts and that it has been resolved.

[VentureBeat]


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