Some strange incidents have taken place inside the Facebook system the last couple of days. There have been reports on at least two significant disruption within the social network’s Connect software – the program that lets other websites synchronize their updates with Facebook. Last night the breakdown affected some major online sites including CNN, New York Times, Gawker, Business Insider. There has also been reports that says sites like NBC, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Hulu, Yelp, Polygon, SBNation, and Washington Post have been being taken out. Kinda makes you wonder how far-reaching Facebook’s influence really is if something goes wrong?
“Facebook is so ingrained in the Web that it can nuke just about every major site with one glitch. Not even Google has that kind of foothold.”
BusinessInsider.com
As public listed company at the New York Stock Exchange the Facebook company should really make themselves familiar with the term “third-party risk”. Zuckerberg & Co could perhaps ask the guys that used to work for Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns what this really is, and how it makes it possible for a seemingly harmless bug to make huge, unintended impacts in a totally different place. But when it comes to unintended consequences of the increasingly complex world-wide web, I’m afraid we’ve barely seen a small tip of an enormous iceberg.
Social network giant Facebook had experienced a significant brief disruption last night (and the night before) of its Facebook Connect API, resulting in many websites being shut down. The Facebook glitch apparently stemmed from the company’s Connect software, a system that lets outside websites sync with Facebook, so people can do things such as post “Likes” or comments back to friends, or log in using their Facebook identities.
The Facebook Connect problem had also apparently caused people logged in at Facebook who tried to visit websites synced to the Connect feature to be redirected to a Facebook error page, according to technorati.com.
Facebook has issued the following statement, downplaying last night’s glitch by saying:
“For a short period of time, there was a bug that redirected people logging in with Facebook from third party sites to Facebook.com. The issue was quickly resolved, and Login with Facebook is now working as usual.”
Still, the latest hick-up at Facebook have already made some users and social media enthusiasts a bit worried – they don’t want to see a Facebookcalypse Now – not now, and not in the future.
“Let’s take a moment and digest this. Facebook is so ingrained in the Web that it can nuke just about every major site with one glitch. Not even Google has that kind of foothold.,” the BusinessInsider concludes.
Related articles:
- Facebook Bug Shows Facebook’s Power Over Your Site (And Your Business) (webpronews.com)
- Facebookmageddon: Apparent Bug On Facebook Brings Down Parts Of Internet (huffingtonpost.com)
- In One Fell Swoop, Facebook Glitch Deep-Sixes The Web (allthingsd.com)
- A Facebook Bug Pretty Much Took Down the Entire Internet (gizmodo.com)
- Facebook is Too Damn Powerful (mashable.com)
- Facebook Error Takes Down Countless Major Websites (buzzfeed.com)
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