Facebook has quietly introduced a new feature that has confused and even offended some of its users worldwide.

A status post of less than 35 characters now appears in a larger and bolder font - a move reportedly intended to help it “stand out” from longer, wordier posts.

Unhappy account holders have taken against it on the grounds that the new formatting makes their messages appear as though they are emanating from a drunk or crazed person.

Font appears in bold and upsized when under 35 characters Facebook (Facebook)

The large font can, however, be overruled if a user includes any multimedia in their post, such as a photo or location tagging.

One tech-savvy user told a forum board that the annoying quirk can be tackled - and the normal font reverted to - if people upload a small photo displaying a blank white space along with their message.

He recommended including a block of white space that is 800px wide by 1px high.

One Reddit user said “I liked the old Facebook better” and another said the big-font posts, “look like screaming”.

Facebook users were also baffled when WhatsApp said in August that it would start sharing data with Mark Zuckerberg’s California-based social network.