Facebook has apologized to its users to whom the ‘Year in Review’ app has caused grief. The app has been dishing out all good memories of the year along with some bad ones too. Facebook has compiled ‘Year in Review’ video for all users, using which the highlights of the years can be reminisced upon. The highlights are showcased based on calculating Facebook’s algorithm.
Some of people’s videos included wedding highlights, some fascinating trips, birthdays and anniversary celebrations, while on the other hand some contained terribly devastating events like an accident, or death of a loved one.
Eric Meyer, writer and web design consultant saw the picture of his daughter, who died of brain cancer in early 2014 in the ‘Year in Review’ app in the newsfeed. Meyer wrote a poignant response to the team. “To show me Rebecca’s face and say “Here’s what your year looked like!” is jarring,” he wrote on his website. “It feels wrong, and coming from an actual person, it would be wrong. Coming from code, it’s just unfortunate.”
Reverting to his post, Jonathan Gheller, product manager for the app at Facebook, apologised for the pain the app caused. He said, “[The app] was awesome for a lot of people, but clearly in this case we brought him grief rather than joy. The team behind the app is considering ways to improve it and will take Meyer’s concerns into account.” It also reminded some users of dead pets and old relationships.
There were however many others who were annoyed with this new feature, which constantly was being flashed on timelines, grabbing undue attention at each login. As per the calculations of Facebook algorithm, the video flashed pictures and posts which received the most attention in terms of likes, impressions and comments. Users also have an option to customize and select pictures and posts as per preferences.
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