Many major websites that use Facebook login or social plugins reported a error that redirected their traffic to Facebook.com where an error message was displayed on Thursday.
A glitch in Facebook’s Connect program prevented users from successfully login to their accounts from within a third party’s website and were redirected to the Facebook page instead. According to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), the error lasted for about half an hour and was repaired quickly.
“For a short period of time, there was a bug that redirected people logging in with Facebook from third-party sites to Facebook.com. The issue was quickly resolved, and Login with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is now working as usual.” said a spokesperson from the social network.
As a result of this error, Internet mainstays like MSNBC.com, CNN, Yelp and New York Magazine all had their users redirected to the Facebook error page almost immediately upon loading.
Although Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) dismissed the matter as the outcome of a technical error that was “quickly repaired”, the problem, regardless of its duration, came out as a significant issue for so many sites that support Facebook’s login through the comment plugin or the Like button. With more than 10 million apps and websites connect with the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) platform, the bug was considered significant within its scope.
Info world shared a list of 35 big companies and media outles that were reportedly affected by the Facebook glitch. Here is the list shared by the website: ABC, BuzzFeed, Capital.fm, CNN, DailyMail, ESPN, Etsy, Fox News, Gawker, Geico, HBO, Hollywood.com, The Huffington Post, Hulu, InfoWorld, NFL, OKCupid, People, Pinterest, Reddit, Slate, Smallworlds, SwagBucks, The Sydney-Melbourne Herald, TED, The Los Angeles Times, The New Zealand Herald, The Washington Post, Vulture, Weather.com, WikiAnswers, WordPress, XOJane, Yahoo, and YugaTech.
Another point of concern was the possibility that a hack was attempt by online hackers to exploit Facebook Connect and redirect thousands of users to pages containing malware or any other malicious content.
Regardless of the size of the bug or the time taken by the social network to resolve the issue, there are chances that this event may raise concerns in the minds of privacy conscious Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) users and Zuckerberg might have to work a little overtime to convince website owners that this glitch was only a one-time event.
