Facebook issued an apology following backlash over “Year in Review,” an app that summarizes the highlights of 2014 for users.
“Year in Review” uses an algorithm based on what received the most interaction, such as photos. While most interactions are positive, many aren’t, and some users were left with a painful reminder of the worst parts of their year, The Washington Post reports.
Many users took to Twitter to express anger over the pictures and moments the app chose to include in the highlight, Mashable reports.
Your daughter's death, as celebrated by #facebook #yearinreview http://t.co/c7Tqwb7uwE pic.twitter.com/fVqu1x6O0G
— Gilbert Sinnott (@gilbertsinnott) December 27, 2014
Facebook: "Remember those memories that now make you sad? Look at your Year In Review!".
— William Wilkinson (@willw) December 26, 2014
Facebook "year in review" thing is kind of awful as it chose 2 pictures of my dogs that died this year & uses poor graphic design elements.
— Travis Louie (@travislouie) December 27, 2014
Jonathan Gheller, Facebook’s product manager for the app, issued an apology after one user, Eric Weber, wrote a blog post about how his “Year in Review” featured a picture of his daughter who passed away.
“[The app] was awesome for a lot of people, but clearly in this case we brought him grief rather than joy,” Gheller said. “We can do better — I’m very grateful he took the time in his grief to write the blog post.”