Facebook Share button disappears from sites without notice

There's nothing wrong with your computer. If you can't share your favorite YouTube video or GMANews.TV article, the problem stems from Facebook itself. As of noon in the Philippines, a growing number of people around the world are reporting that the familiar Share button — which lets you re-post an item from the Web into your own Facebook profile for friends to see — has disappeared from various websites, most notably YouTube. According to Google Realtime Search analytics, the key term "share button" became a trending topic across the Web between 6am and 12pm. This indicates that the problem may have arisen and spread across the Internet within that time period.

Google Realtime Search reveals that "share button" became a hot topic across the Web between 6am and 12pm (Philippine Time). Source: Google

"Some users are in panic as they are assuming that the websites have removed the share button. One such website is YouTube which had the share button an hour back and is not present any more," said online news portal BuzzingUp, which has likewise been affected by the bug. The glitch has prompted netizens around the world to air their complaints via Twitter. "Wow did @facebook just kill off the Share button? Without telling anyone?" asked @garyhe. "Just noticed that Facebook share button is missing from YouTube. Google & FaceBook on a dispute?" wondered @trongthanh. As of posting time, Facebook administrators have yet to comment on the scope and nature of the problem, prompting speculation from online observers. However, it seems that, for whatever reason, Facebook is encouraging web developers to use the Facebook Like button instead of the Share button.

For whatever reason, Facebook no longer recommends using the "Share" button on websites. Instead, web developers are encouraged to use either the "Like" button or Open Graph protocol. Source: Facebook Developers' Site

"We don't recommend the Share button for new developers. If you aren't already using the Share button, we recommend you migrate to the Like button and Open Graph protocol instead of Share for sharing pages from your website. The Like button is simpler to user and is the recommended solution moving forward," says the Facebook Share Button documentation page for developers. "Uh-oh. Facebook phasing out facebook share button in favor of facebook like. I knew this time will come. Silently," speculated @wfxyz. GMANews.TV will update this article as soon as more information becomes available. You may reach the author via Twitter at @tjdimacali. — GMANews.TV