You may notice a post appearing on your Facebook page that says, “Facebook will be closed for maintenance between the 29th and 31st of February“.
Don’t fret, Facebook will not be closed for maintenance, you may continue combing through your friends posts and scowling for sophomoric aphorism’s to make you look cool and clever.
The Facebook message is a silly prank, although it appears to fool many. Facebook is NOT planning on being closed for maintenance. If Facebook was planning on closing, it clearly would not be closed on February 30th and 31st. It is not leap year, so February 29th will not be coming up either. None of these dates exist on our calendar.
Versions of the same “warning” have been circulating since 2011.
Late in 2013, a graphical version of the hoax began circulating on Facebook.
The prank shows how the immediacy of social media usage, and how it causes users to re-post without much thought of the pseudo prank.
There have been plenty of similar hoaxes that continue to fool gullible Internet users. A long running hoax from April Fools Day claimed that the entire Internet was scheduled to be closed for maintenance for a 24 hour period during which a “tune-up” will be performed and “high pressure information jets” will be used to “clear out the bottlenecks”.
Other outrageous hoaxes on Facebook claim that Facebook is to be shutdown due to congestion or because managing the site has become too stressful for the all knowing Mr. Zukerburg.
These pranks and fake messages are nothing more than to pull your leg. But, as long as users are out there and are quick to hit the share button, the pranks will be passes on.
Have you seen a Facebook prank like this? Please share your story with us!
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References:
Facebook ‘Closed for Maintenance’ Prank – Hoax Slayer
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/facebook-closed-maintenance-hoax.shtml
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