Facebook users have been left devasted after a worrying glitch exposed exactly who they have been 'stalking' via the popular social media platform.
The bug sent an instant friend request once a profile was viewed and it's left many concerned that ex-partners, old friends and strangers now know they are being watched.
"Worst time to stalk an ex from YEARS ago when you're drunk and he pops into your head randomly," one Facebook user named Katy exclaimed.
Whilst another called Holly added, "Spent most of today cringing myself inside out after being caught by the Facebook friend request bug (it sends friend requests to any profile you click on)."
Others were left pondering which profiles they had visited over the past week, "I wonder who I've Facebook stalked and the app bug has sent them a friend request," said Facebook fan Harry. Some were so mortified that they threatened to deactivate their Facebook accounts altogether.
It appears the gremlins hit the social media platform late last week with the Meta-owned firm rushing to push out an update.
“We fixed a bug related to a recent app update that caused some Facebook friend requests to be sent mistakenly,” a spokesperson for Meta told The Daily Beast. “We’ve stopped this from happening and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
It's unclear how many people were affected but if you were checking out an ex or having a sneaky look at an office colleague's Facebook page they may have received a request from you.
Of course, some have seen the more humourous side of the bug with many calling it the "funniest thing Facebook has ever done".
It's also revealed how unpopular some are, with many Facebook users moaning that they haven't had anyone looking at their profile.
"Facebook glitch just showing me how unpopular I am," said jacintaandcarty on TikTok. Others responded by saying, "No one stalking me either."
If you're still worried you've been affected by the technical defect, head to facebook.com/friends.
From here, click 'Friend Requests' in the left-hand tab followed by 'View send requests' to review the pending requests.
Last year, another Facebook bug led to user feeds being flooded with posts from strangers sharing content on celebrity pages.
And in 2016, people thought they had been hacked when old photographs were being reposted to their Facebook timelines as if they were new.
But it again was a glitch caused by an app update.
