Facebook apologises for Year In Review after offending grieving father

FACEBOOK apologises after it’s automatic Year In Review feature offends grieving father whose daughter died in 2014.

Eric Meyer's Facebook Year in Review post

FACEBOOK users may by now have noticed the Year In Review feature splattered throughout their newsfeed.

The feature automatically generates a post with users’ most popular photos, along with the tagline, “It’s been a great year! Thanks for being part of it.”

There is just one problem — not everyone has had such a great 2014.

In one case, web designer and consultant Eric Meyer was disturbed to see his Year In Review pop up in his feed, featuring a photo of his six-year-old daughter Rebecca, who passed away from brain cancer in June.

Eric Meyer’s Facebook Year in Review

In a blog post, Mr Meyer wrote, “I didn’t go looking for grief this afternoon, but it found me anyway.”

“Yes my year looked like that. True enough. My year looked like the now-absent face of my little girl. It was still unkind to remind me so forcefully,” he added.

It seems Mr Meyer isn’t the only one upset by Facebook’s new feature. People have taken to Twitter detailing their experiences — not all of them positive.

So my (beloved!) ex-boyfriend's apartment caught fire this year, which was very sad, but Facebook made it worth it. pic.twitter.com/AvU8ifazXa

— Julieanne Smolinski (@BoobsRadley) December 29, 2014

Won't be sharing my Facebook Year in Review, which "highlights" a post on a friend's death in May despite words like "killed" and "sad day"

— Andrew Katz (@katz) December 29, 2014

This is the photo Facebook picked out—my dead father's ashes—just to confirm my previous "year in review" tweet. pic.twitter.com/7wmx7SCUUz

— Mark Duffy (@copyranter) December 24, 2014

I'm so glad that Facebook made my 'Year in Review' image a picture of my now dead dog. I totally wanted to sob uncontrollably this Xmas Eve.

— Sarah-Jane (@isloveSJ) December 24, 2014

Facebook’s product manager for the app, Jonathan Gheller, has since contacted Mr Meyer to apologise.

He told the Washington Post that the app, “was awesome for a lot of people, but clearly in this case we brought him grief rather than joy.”