Wow — 7.5 Million Facebook Views! Facebook Bug Lets Some People See The Number Of Views On Their Posts

Facebook users are accustomed to seeing the number of likes, comments, and shares on their Facebook posts. However, it’s not every day that Facebook users can view their own view counts to determine how popular their posts might be. According to the Independent, the bug that allows some Facebook users to see their own view counts is exactly that: a bug, not a new feature that Facebook is rolling out to some users.

Apparently, it wasn’t just the fact that Facebook showed people their own view count, but the view count of other users as well. Facebook users like Akemi Bourgeois posted the fact that she could see the view counts to her Twitter account, and asked if anyone wanted to know their own Facebook post view counts.

The new Facebook view count seems to be a test/slow roll out amongst certain random users. So who wants their view count? I am all knowing.

As seen in the above photos, the Facebook views on an article shared online from My Fox 8 about a man who called police claiming he was too high had gained 3.9 million views. Other articles and Facebook posts shown above display 75,373 views. According to the New York Daily News, Facebook is fixing the bug that accidentally showed some Facebook users their view counts.

Apparently, the fact that the Facebook bug accidentally showed popularity via view counts, as reported by the Verge?, was unnerving to some people, and some folks called it creepy. On Twitter, reports of the Facebook view count “feature” drew comments like stalker-ish and the like, especially since the Facebook view count showed up on private posts. Alas, most Facebook users discovered that it wasn’t an enhancement being rolled out by Facebook, but a bug that only show up to a small number of Facebook users — so says Facebook about the view count error — and the company claims it will be fixed soon.

Folks like Nigel Pereira complained on Twitter about the Facebook view count, assuming it was a new feature similar to the view count that YouTube offers on their videos.

“Facebook started a view count next to the like count. Copying youtube, but this time it’s just the wrong way. #StalkerAlert #ByeFacebook“

The Facebook view counts bug let people know just how popular their Facebook posts really were, reports the Daily Mail? — quite an off-putting thing for Facebook posts that may have witnessed 500 views and only one like for a certain Facebook post, for example.

On Twitter, a search for “Facebook view count” turns up tweets about people discussing the Facebook views bug — or those complaining about what they think is a new feature being unveiled by Facebook. While view counts are a pretty popular thing to see on YouTube videos that are public, view counts aren’t something that Facebook users are used to seeing. However, this data is obviously tracked by Facebook for a variety of reasons.

Certain users of social media platforms find that high followers and view counts can be valuable. There are advertisers willing to pay users with large social media followings in exchange to tweet or post information about their products and services. As such, the analytics on view counts and social engagement of various Facebook posts are necessary, as it is on Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms.

If Facebook ever decides to roll out the post view count in actuality, they’d better tread carefully – or suffer the wrath of Facebook view count complainers.

[Images via Facebook/Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images News]