Facebook has dropped a question about sexual preferences that previously appeared on profiles on the social network.
The California-based social network’s “Did You Know” feature – which encourages users to share lesser known or quirky details to flesh-out your page, including most sought-after superpowers or a guilty pleasure – has been asking users to finish the following prompt: “I usually sleep with…”
Facebook users weren’t happy about the question, which many took to be an attempt to learn about users’ sexual preferences or sexual habits.
Facebook uses the information it holds on users to target advertising, including location, age, hobbies, and much, much more.
Users slammed the question – which could allude to previous sexual partners – as “creepy”.
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“Things that #Facebook wants to know these days,” one user on Twitter blasted, “Creep. Creepier. Creepiest.”
Another Twitter user simply posted “Nah” in response to the question.
One user joked, “Dear Facebook: Since you insist with your prompter to complete the sentence, here goes – I usually sleep with…my eyes closed.”
Facebook has been quick to respond to the backlash.
Spokesperson Daniel Harrison told Business Insider that the question was innocuous and meant to prompt users to answer with inanimate objects, like a cuddly bear.
“We learned one of the questions in the ‘Did You Know’ feature was causing confusion among some people who saw it,” Mr Harrison said.
“We imagined someone might tell their friends about sleeping with their favourite stuffed giraffe, but we’ve removed the question after our community provided feedback that it was too personal.”
Facebook debuted its “Did You Know” feature in December following the news that users were sharing less on the social media platform.
Users on Facebook purportedly posted a third less content in 2016, compared to 2015.
“Did You Know” was implemented to try and coax users to start actively contributing to Facebook again.
Despite its wobble around content sharing, Facebook has continued to grow.
By its most recent count, Facebook has amassed more than two billion monthly active users worldwide.