* Yes, it’s a generalisation. Now don’t all you Facebook fanatics go get your panties in a panic, your broekies in a bunch, or your jockstrap in a jam.

Tech blog ReadWriteWeb (RWW) deliver proof that (a large number of) Facebook users may need to seriously reassess their tech-savviness.

Mike Melansons' post on ReadWriteWed that caused all the confusion

RWW writer Mike Melanson made a post about Facebook and AOL announcing a partnership that will integrate a user’s Facebook friends into their AOL Instant Messenger. He discusses the natural link between the two services and how Facebook Connect will be used to import a user’s Facebook friends into their AIM contacts, enabling chat directly between the two services.

Seems to be a pretty straightforward information piece. But within minutes of the post reaching Google, the comments from confused and, in most cases, downright irritated Facebook users started flooding in. Some samples from just the first page of comments:

  • The new facebook sucks> NOW LET ME IN.
  • when can we log in?
  • I WANT THE OLD FAFEBOOK BACK THIS SHIT IS WACK!!!!!
  • just want to get on facebook
  • please give me back the old facebook login this is crazy……………..
  • EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY NOT JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!1111
  • I just want to sign in…………
  • I just want to log in to Facebook – what with the red color and all? LOLLLOLOL!!!!!111
  • I was just learning,why would you mess it up?
  • wtf is this bullshttttttttttt all about. can i get n plzzzzzzzzz
  • What is going on? You are totally confusing me. Knock-knock. Anybody there? Let me in.
  • IAM NEW AT FACEBOOK NOW WITH CHANGES IAM LOSSSSSSSSST!
  • All I want to do is log in, this sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
  • LIKED THE OLD FACEBOOK SING IN………….
  • This is such a mess I can’t do a thing on my facebook .The changes you have made are ridiculous,I can’t even login!!!!!I am very upset!!!

There are now 38 pages of mostly similar comments! It seems that the Facebook faithful had followed a link from the Google search results for “Facebook login” to the RWW’s post and never realised that they weren’t where they wanted to be.

The site requires a sign in of some sort to be made in order to add comments to a post. One of the options available is to “Sign in with Facebook”. Users seemed to think that this was how they could log in to Facebook, and started bitching: “This is such a mess I can’t do a thing on my facebook .The changes you have made are ridiculous,I can’t even login!!!!!I am very upset!!!”

Sign in with Facebook to leave a comment, NOT to access your Facebook account!

Now you’d think that this simple confusion would be realised by most pretty quickly, and that would be the end of it. Not a chance.

Within days the comments had reached the 100’s. So much so that the author added the following helpful pointer to the middle of the post, in bold. He even kindly provides the right links to the correct place to login to Facebook, and a suggestion on how to add Facebook as a bookmarked site to avoid this in the future:

image

So that would be the end of it right? Wrong.

Despite the RWW’s best efforts, the comments of indignation and bile continue to flood the post to this day (the original article was posted 2 weeks ago!) The comment count now stands at almost 1,900 – all on one single post. As one (clearly very amused and presumably more savvy) writer asks: “Mike: You lucky dog! What’s it feel like to be the new Facebook? :0))))”

It’s an absolute wonder that there aren’t many more Facebook fail stories with so many technologically challenged users out there.

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