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BFF comment verification: Someone is trolling Facebook Users

When memes surfaced all over Facebook, peddling information that commenting with ‘BFF’ on Facebook posts would help you determine whether or not your account was secured, many users of the popular social networking site immediately flooded comment sections on different posts with comments of ‘BFF’ without realizing that someone was just trolling them.

According to the information, when a user comments BFF on a particular post, it is a way to quickly assess your Facebook account’s security level; if the comment turns green, then your account is secured but if it doesn’t turn green, then you should change your password as your account isn’t safe and would be hacked.

The claim also holds that BFF was invented by Mark Zuckerberg and incorporated into Facebook as a means of checking account security.

Facts

In reality, if you type BFF in a comment, it automatically animates green and red hands giving a high five. It also animates when you tap on the comment later but none of this is a way of determining the security status or level of your account. This is just a fun thing on Facebook and not a security precaution.

Another feature that animates when you type it or click on it is when you use ‘Congratulations’ in a comment or post. In this case, confetti and other party paraphernalia are animatedly blown out when you type ‘congratulations’ in a comment or tap on the comment with ‘congratulations’ later on.

The Meaning and Origin of ‘BFF’

BFF is a term meaning Best Friends Forever. Relationships described as BFF are common in American high schools but not in colleges. It is commonly used in expressing friendship via chat or text messages.

The acronym “BFF” was added to the New Oxford American Dictionary on 16 September 2010. The dictionary states that the acronym BFF originated in 1996.

This record shows that Mark Zuckerberg did not create BFF; instead, his company just integrated a concept based on BFF into the algorithm of their website.

Other Such fake Facebook ‘hacks’

In the past, there has been information spread on Facebook about other such fake authentications or security checks which involved commenting with specific words or codes;

One of such was the one that required users to comment with a particular code followed by their username after which their security status would indicate ‘safe’ or ‘critical’. Another such fake hack involved people commenting with their username followed by a code that in turn highlights the username with a particular colour or colours.

Facebook eventually disassociated itself from these hacks, explaining that they were just things put in place to improve user experience on the platform, rather than as security measures.

There is yet a hack that involves people typing in their passwords thinking it will change to something else. It does not and it turns out actually hackers can actually collect passwords via this means.

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