Facebook Messenger bug or feature - Poll


    If you write a message on Facebook Messenger and add a link to it, and then delete it, the link will still be sent.

    When is this bad?


    In one of the business correspondence, I needed to copy and send a piece of text. Apparently, I didn’t get into the Ctrl + C buttons, and instead of the text I pasted a link that related to my personal affairs and was on the clipboard. Noticing this, I deleted the link and inserted the desired text, and then sent a message. The link went ... I was surprised and very puzzled, I had to explain that the link had nothing to do with it. But it could be some kind of financial report or something else ...

    What Facebook thinks


    I wrote about the problem on Facebook . But judging by their answer, they consider this functionality that allows you to remove "unnecessary" links. They also refer to the fact that the link will be visible in the preview.

    Reply from Facebook
    What you describe is actually just intended functionality allowing the senders to format their message by removing the unnecessary URLs when the content loads and is shown in the preview. In your scenario someone would have to deliberately send a message that is shown in the message preview and can be seen before sending. We do not consider the described issue to constitute a security vulnerability and therefore this report will not qualify under our bug bounty program.

    What UX thinks


    Jakob Nielsen , usability guru, back in the 90s, formulated 10 usability heuristics to evaluate user interfaces. These rules have passed the test of time, and now UX designers have a simple way to evaluate the usability of interfaces.

    We describe some of the 10 heuristics that messenger has problems with:


    • Awareness of the state of the system. Users should always know what is currently happening with the system. This requires full and quick feedback. However, in the situation described above, even if there is a preview of the link, it is not at all clear whether it will be sent if it is not in the message body.
    • Freedom of action and control. Users often choose some functions of the system by mistake, and they need an “urgent exit” button to restore the previous state of the system without entering into a long dialogue. But unfortunately there is no option to delete a message after sending Facebook Messenger.
    • Error prevention. Better than good error messages can only be thoughtful design, which, in the first place, will prevent the problem. Either eliminate the conditions that lead to errors, or identify errors and provide the user with the option of confirmation before he performs the action. Then again, no one asked if I really want to send a link that I deleted from the message. She was just picked up and sent.

    And although the heuristics described should be treated more like a “set of guidelines, rather than strict laws,” it’s obvious that Facebook should have worked better on UX design. In my case, such an ill-conceived interface reduces the indicators of my productivity, effectiveness and, of course, satisfaction.

    What do you think?

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    it

    • 67.8% Bug 133
    • 32.1% Feature 63

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