Facebook Apologised After Its “Year in Review” Feature Had A Grieving Father More Devastated

When Facebook users sign in, they will see an invitation to check out the new app dubbed as the "Year in Review," which can be customised and can be shared with all friends in the networking site. For most users, they found the algorithm trick as a fine way to look back at the year that is about to end and remember the most remarkable moments. The app offers a customised feature to the billions of Facebook users, which is rather impressive. However, it is not perfect.

Just recently, Eric Meyer, a web-design consultant from Cleveland, Ohio got shocked when he logged in to his Facebook account and was confronted by a picture of Rebecca, his six-year old daughter, who unfortunately died of brain cancer just this year. With the app's jaunty tagline saying "Eric, here's what your year looked like", the still grieving father was totally devastated.

In a blog post, Meyer accepts that it was not a deliberate assault from the social media giant. But for someone like him who has lived through the death of his beloved daughter or even for those who spent time in the hospital, for those who got divorced or for those who just lost his job, they might not also want to give another look at the bad memories of 2014.

Based on News.com Australia, Facebook's product manager Jonathan Gheller has already reached out to the grieving father and he even felt very sorry for the pain that the year-end feature has brought to its user. He also pointed out that the app is intended to make people happy, but in this case, the app caused grief instead of joy. Gheller also added that the minds behind the app are already figuring out ways in order to improve and to make sure no issue of this sort will arise next year.

Meanwhile, some Facebook users were also annoyed on how pushy the feature is as it constantly reminds users of its existence. It usually comes first on the user's homepage and since the app is being run by an algorithm, photos and moments that are captured are the ones with the most interaction. But then again, users are given the option to customize their "Year in Review" before clicking on "share."

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