A lurker's worst nightmare — a Facebook bug sent friend requests to profiles that users were looking at

• Lurkers beware — a Facebook glitch sent automatic friend requests to profiles that users clicked on.
• The glitch occurred as a result of an update to the Facebook app.

It's every lurker's worst nightmare — checking the Facebook profile of a crush, coworker, or someone they might not necessarily know, only to accidentally send a friend request.

This situation became a reality last week as users began noticing that after viewing accounts that they were not connected to, a friend request would automatically be sent, exposing any kind of peeping behavior, The Daily Beast reported.

Facebook's parent company, Meta, which confirmed the issue to Insider, said the glitch occurred as a result of an update to the Facebook app, which "caused Facebook friend requests to be sent mistakenly."

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"We've stopped this from happening, and have canceled any requests that were sent because of this error," a Meta spokesperson said. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

Reactions from people online ranged from embarrassment to curiosity around whether they might be on the receiving end of such a friend request that would reveal who had been checking out their online profile.

—MONTSE (Taylor’s Version) (@beachybones) May 12, 2023

"I guess we are all going to find out who our stalkers are today," commented one Redditor on the glitch.

"Well, that would explain why I received a surprise friend request from some dumshit flat-earther I was making fun of," said another.

—Antonio Montana❤️‍ (@DhollsFace) May 12, 2023

—Matt Schuck (@MattSchuckDC) May 12, 2023

This is the latest bug to plague Facebook users — in August 2022, a "configuration change," spammed users' feeds with celebrity posts.

Back in March 2022, the platform resolved a bug that was amplifying misinformation in user feeds. Some of the most heavily distributed material contained nudity, violence, and false information, all material that could be deemed harmful to viewers. The issue was first recognized in October 2021, before being remedied six months later.