Facebook's 'Did You Know' feature just got really creepy with a very personal question

A new Facebook feature has just pushed the limits of oversharing on social media even further, and users are not impressed.

As part of their Did you Know feature, Facebook users can complete usually harmless sentences so that small facts about themselves are featured on their profiles.

But the innocent feature seems to have gone a long way since it's 2017 launch.

Facebook users have reported being prompted by Facebook to fill in the following statement:
"I usually sleep with...".

Facebook had to take the question down altogether after people shared their thoughts on the bizarre and nosey sentence.

The feature was initially flagged up by Reshima Sharma, who screen captured the Did You Know statement and shared it. "Nah @Facebook, I know you're keen on oversharing but this one is TOO nosey," she tweeted.

Daniel Harrison, spokesperson for Facebook, said in a statement that the question was meant to reference sleeping habits, such as sleeping with "flannel pjs." However, something clearly got lost in translation, as users thought they were asked to give away the name of their sexual partners.

"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," Harrison said.

"I guess you can read it two ways maybe," Sharma told Business Insider, "but it's difficult to give Facebook the benefit of the doubt when its 'did you know' feature also asks you to publish weirdly personal questions like 'the last time I went through a tough time was...' and 'if I could change one thing about my significant other it would be...'"

The Did you Know feature, which was introduced in December 2017 was designed to encourage people to share their personal quirks and stories for their Facebook friends to see.

People have been sharing less and less personal statuses on their profiles. In 2016, a study published in The Information showed that overall sharing on the platform had fallen by 5.5% from 2014 to 2015. During the same period, status updates in particular fell by 21%. Mark Zuckerberg announced on 12 January that Facebook would be tweaking its algorithm so that users see more shares and posts from friends rather than companies or news organisations.