Facebook is greeting some international users with the weather. But in Fahrenheit.
In its quest to be the front page of the internet (sorry Google), Facebook is testing a weather forecast for some users in Australia on desktop browsers.
A message greets people on login, advising them to "stay dry today in Sydney" thanks to a forecast of rain, for example. The weather alert does not currently seem to appear for all Australian Facebook users. It follows tests of the product in other regions, including in the UK in April.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the trial. "We're currently testing greetings that let you know about notable changes in the weather in your area," he said. "These greetings appear at the top of News Feed and include helpful weather information, such as if there's been a change in the temperature, when rain or snow is on the way, or if the sun is expected to come out after a few days in hiding."
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The weather advice can be expanded for more detail, and that's where it gets confusing.
The full day forecast for some Australian users has one foot in the U.S., showing the temperature in Fahrenheit, not Celsius.
While other Aussies have also noticed the discrepancy, the bug seems longstanding. A number of Canadian users also used Twitter to complain about the Fahrenheit problem in their Facebook weather forecasts back in July.
Facebook declined to offer comment on this issue when contacted by Mashable.
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It's possible to change your default temperature measurement preference on Facebook in General Account Settings, although it is unclear if this alters the test.
Some Facebook events pull their weather data from Weather.com, which could be a possible source of the issue.
Topics Facebook Social Media
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
