Facebook flexed its administrative muscle this week by taking down several third party apps this week. Developers are scrambling to update their apps to comply with Facebook, but many have been unable to determine exactly why their apps were shut down to begin with.
One such app, Breakup Notifier, enabled users to keep track of changes to their friend’s relationship status, and had 3.6 million users since its debut on Monday. Wednesday the app was blocked by Facebook, and developer Dan Loewenherz posted on his Facebook Fan page that “we’re doing everything we can to try and get this back online and working for you. We need to talk to them [Facebook] and would ask that you guys give us your support during this extreme growth phase.”
According to Loewenherz, he is still unclear why Facebook blocked his app, nor what he needs to do to restore his app. A Facebook spokesperson stated that “Breakup Notifier was temporarily disabled by one of our automated systems, which we have in place to ensure apps on Facebook Platform provide positive user experiences.” Privacy concerns are likely the root of the issue, but it remains to be seen what effect this will have on Loewenherz’ app and others going forward.