Even the Web giant boss will not have escaped the grisly surprise. Friday, members of Facebook and their friends have lived a strange situation when they discovered that their profile on the social network reported death.
A small flower and the message "In memory of" before their name … This was read, shocked or amused some two million users, according to estimates of the American media.
"Have we all died together today or …? "Asks a user.
"I thought Trump had really won the presidential election, but it turns out I'm just dead. Thank you for the info, Facebook "joked another.
"Earlier this afternoon, my Facebook account has posted a nice message to my friends, asking them to" remember me "and" find comfort in things that others share "on me. It was very touching, there was a small flower drawing. The thing is I'm not dead, "quipped Abby Ohlheiser, journalist Washington Post , specializing in new technologies, also affected.
This symbol and messages will warn ordinary commemorative accounts of deceased users, whose relatives have requested. The feature allows "friends and family to come together and share memories after the death of a person," says the American social network.
"According to our regulations, if Facebook is informed of a person's death, we transform his account in behalf of commemoration." This requires in particular present proof of death.
Even Mark Zuckerberg, the boss and founder of the social network, has passed away Friday 2.0 side. "We hope that those who like Mark find comfort in seeing what others share" in tribute to his life, it was written a while on his profile.
"It is a terrible mistake that we have now solved," conceded a spokesman for Facebook. "For a brief moment today, a message for the commemoration of accounts was posted by mistake to other accounts," he acknowledged. A huge fail however that ripped a few smiles to users, alive.