Facebook strange
March 12, 2014 5:57 AM   Subscribe

Why is FB showing different versions of the same post on different platforms?

I posted from an iPad. Later I edited the post from a PC.
Now FB shows the original post on iPads, and the edited post on PCs. Shouldn't it show the same thing across platforms?
posted by LonnieK to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)
 
Response by poster: Clarify: Technically I didn't post -- I commented on a post, then edited my comment. In any case, I can't tell whether downthread replies to my comment were made in response to one version or the other. (Not a huge difference, but I did expand a bit when I edited.)
posted by LonnieK at 6:00 AM on March 12, 2014


Often what you're seeing on the app is an unrefreshed cache of what was initially pulled from FB. Close out of the app, go back in, refresh the feed and it should show the edited post.
posted by inturnaround at 6:00 AM on March 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yep, I find that the apps are much less good about refreshing content.
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 6:23 AM on March 12, 2014


i actually get the opposite problem all the time - where my pc won't show edits or new comments but the app will. it's not you, it's them.
posted by nadawi at 6:59 AM on March 12, 2014


Remember when friendster and myspace sucked? Part of the reason they sucked is they honored the idea that data consistency mattered.

Facebook sacrifices data consistency for speed. Depending on the device or the day, you simply will not see posts from significant subsets of your network.
posted by NoRelationToLea at 9:43 AM on March 12, 2014 [2 favorites]


On your side, others have mentioned caching. Your iPad not refreshing the data.

On Facebook's side, the data probably exists as multiple copies across multiple servers. The change you made goes to one server, which eventually get propagated out to the other servers. However, Facebook might set iPads to pull from one server and desktops another. Or your iPad might simply have a different facebook server address remembered than the desktop. Either way, one might be pulling from a server with stale data, the other with the updated data. Eventually, the two versions should converge, as your change replicates out to all the servers.
posted by ethidda at 1:54 PM on March 12, 2014


« Older Guidelines/tips for wall picture size/placement   |   Any tips for getting a used Outback in... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.