Looking for a way to waste some time this morning on Facebook? Here's a new bug circling around the Internet that you can try out.
If you post random numbers into the sequence @[XXX:Y] or @[XXXX:Y] as a comment or status update, a name will appear when you press enter. Just watch:
Here, I typed in "@[949:0]" as a comment:
Pressed enter and voila, Anna Redmond appeared:
The same technique will work in a status update. Here I inserted "@[4353:0]":
And the name Rob Bateman showed up:
I should clarify, I don't have Facebook friends named Anna Redmond or Rob Bateman, probably explaining why actual tags do not appear for these two presumed Facebook users. I also tried inserting longer strings of numbers and the output when I pressed enter was a number zero, dispelling the possibility that every Facebook user has an abbreviated number sequence associated with their name.
I also tested inserting profile ID numbers (the sequence at the end of non-vanity URLs), which resulted in a traditional name tag.
We've reached out to Facebook for an explanation, and will update this post if they can sort this one out.
Here's the real question: What do you think these short codes mean? Some loopy rumors are saying they give your phone number or area code a name -- that's obviously nonsensical. Let us know what you hypothesize in the comments.
BONUS: 10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks