[UPDATE:] Facebook has resolved the issue. From a Facebook spokesperson: “Earlier today, we experienced an issue that prevented some people from loading Timeline or Pages content for a brief period of time. We resolved the issue quickly, and content is back to normal. We’re sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused.” Breathe easy, creepers.
Select Facebook users noticed something strange this morning while embarking on their daily Timeline-creeping: Timelines, including their own, were broken. Instead of seeing wall posts and status updates and mobile photo uploads typical of a user’s Timeline, people experiencing this problem saw an information symbol and the following message: “Sorry, but this page didn’t load properly. Please try again.” But no amount of re-loading fixed the Mighty Timeline.
As of writing this, Timeline is still broken for many users. While those experiencing the issue can still see what people are saying through the News Feed, clicking through to a friend’s page will prompt the loading error message, as will looking at a user’s own Timeline.
“We’ve received reports that some people are having trouble loading their Timeline and Pages content. We’re actively investigating this issue,” A Facebook spokesperson told Digital Trends. So: No comment on the cause of the problem, but hopefully it should be resolved soon.
In the meantime, people are taking to Twitter to express their displeasure:
Why do I get this on EVERY Facebook page I try and go on? Is it broke?! pic.twitter.com/9vnLNSIbRr
— James Everton (@MrJamesEverton) November 8, 2013
I guess Facebook is broke. Bet it has to do with Twitter being all awesome and shit.
— Stevie Lynn (@StevieLynnnn) November 8, 2013
okay… Who broke Facebook?
— Ken Kaminesky (@KenKaminesky) November 8, 2013
Facebook didn’t pick a good time to start being unreliable — rival Twitter went public yesterday, and the IPO yielded high stock prices and lots of happy Twitter execs. Even though Facebook is far larger than Twitter, Facebook has been taking steps to become more like Twitter, since the micro-blogging site is now considered the premiere destination for real-time conversations about world events. Unfortunately, with this Timeline outage, it appears the usually rock-solid Facebook has taken another cue from Twitter: More frequent loading problems.
Just stay calm, my friends. You will be able to stalk again, soon enough.
