Life

Um, Why Is Facebook Saying Some People Are Dead?

Just when you thought this week couldn't get any more unsettling, there appeared to be a bizarre glitch at play that may have made you do a double take as you were scrolling through your newsfeed: Why is Facebook saying some people are dead? Many users reported on Twitter that their Facebook pages were being memorialized, which is weird because, well, they're very much alive. Bustle has reached out to Facebook for comment, and will update this post if and when we hear back. Update: A Facebook spokesperson issued the following statement to Bustle: “For a brief period today, a message meant for memorialized profiles was mistakenly posted to other accounts. This was a terrible error that we have now fixed. We are very sorry that this happened and we worked as quickly as possible to fix it.”

Earlier: According to TechCrunch, many Facebook profiles, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's, suddenly displayed a note on Nov. 11 that, um, wasn't entirely accurate: "We hope people who love [user's name] will find comfort in the things others share to remember and celebrate his life." The note also included a link that shows people where to learn more about memorializing someone's Facebook account, and how to use legacy contact settings, which, according to Facebook, let you appoint someone "to look after your account if it's memorialized." It's a touching sentiment, I guess, but as I mentioned earlier... these people all seemed to be very much alive.

TechCrunch reports that the Facebook bug wasn't popping up on everybody's profile, and for the most part, appeared to be pretty random — but still, on a scale of things that will make you go "WTF?!", this is definitely toward the top of the list.

Naturally, people started freaking out:

Others found the glitch's timing to be strangely fitting — people might not be physically dead following election night, but they certainly feel dead on the inside:

Some people who DIDN'T have the memorial banner seemed relieved for the confirmation that they were still — thank goodness — living, breathing humans:

And some wanted to know why they WEREN'T dead, when everyone else was:

For the most part, it seems as though everything is back to normal and that the odd banners have disappeared from most people's pages, but still... really? Can 2016 get any weirder or more uncomfortable? My guess is no, but I also don't want to jinx anything. (I'm also personally taking it as a GOOD sign that the banner didn't pop up on my own page. That is additional drama I don't think I'm emotionally capable of handling right now.)

In the meantime, if you have any concerns about a friend or family member's Facebook activity, maybe reach out and see how they're doing. Connecting with loved ones right now just seems like a good idea... regardless of whether or not Facebook thinks they're alive and able to respond back.