Facebook experienced a significant glitch where users received automated friend requests simply by visiting another user’s profile. The issue, which prompted a wave of complaints on Twitter, has since been addressed by the company.
Beginning on Friday, numerous users reported that Facebook was sending out friend requests without their intention when they accessed others’ profiles. A notable example was shared by Twitter user Bavid Mcjavid (@bavidmcjavid), who posted a video illustrating the app’s automatic selection of the Add friend button, requiring users to cancel the unsolicited requests manually.
Other Twitter users echoed the same concerns, with one individual mentioning that everyone they “stalked,” or secretly viewed, received requests. Another user chimed in about their experience with the glitch, humorously noting that it was not ideal to review their yearbook and inadvertently send friend requests.
In a subsequent update, Mcjavid reported that the problem seemed to be resolved. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also issued a statement to The Daily Beast confirming that they had corrected the bug and apologized for the inconvenience.
“We fixed a bug related to a recent app update that caused some Facebook friend requests to be sent mistakenly. We’ve stopped this from happening and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused,” a Meta representative stated.
This glitch emerged shortly after Meta announced a second round of layoffs this year, resulting in the termination of over 11,000 employees, which comprised approximately 13 percent of its workforce. Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dubbed 2023 as the “Year of Efficiency,” indicating the company’s efforts to cut costs and streamline operations.
