A viral post floating around says that Facebook will be closed for maintenance at the end of February. If you got the joke, you laughed. If not, you’re panicking.
The post, the latest incarnation of which you’re looking at up top, advises Facebook users of an imminent site closure due to maintenance scheduled for February 29, 30, and 31. It asks you to share so that your friends are aware of the closure and don’t try to access Facebook while they’re undergoing site fix-ups.
“But what am I supposed to do without Facebook for three days?” you ask. Well, you won’t be doing anything on February 29, 30, or 31, because with the exception of the occasional leap year, most of those dates don’t exist.
This is the part where I carefully remind you that there are only 28 days in February.
Graham Cluely of Sophos Security notes that “of course, it’s kinda true. You won’t be able to log into Facebook on February 29th, February 30th or February 31st this year … Umm.. that’s because those days don’t exist.”
For further analysis, we turn to Hoax-Slayer, who wrote: “This prank exemplifies how the immediacy and ease of use of social media can apparently cause many users to share or repost without due forethought or the application of even basic common sense. One would think that even the most gullible and wide-eyed among us would sense something amiss if they were only to take more than a cursory glance at the message and take in the improbable date.”
So go ahead and share it as a fun social prank, but for God’s sake, do it for the right reasons. Unforeseen circumstances notwithstanding, Facebook will be available on February 28, and again on March 1, the very next day.
Just remember to think before you share.
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