Facebook users recently started noticing that some of their photos had disappeared. The issue seems to affect albums uploaded in 2008 and 2009, and users have tracked down the problem to a server farm in Sweden. For its part, Facebook has yet to publicly acknowledge the bug.

As you can see in the screenshot above, entire albums no longer show photos and are instead full of blank boxes. Last month, Facebook user Ryan Grant posted the following issue under the Photos section of the Facebook Help Center:

I can't see certain photo's all through out facebook don't seem to be any logical pattern, is there a fix or is this a known bug?

The thread has 36 replies but no solution. Last week, Facebook user Todd Hartstein also posted about the issue on the Facebook Help Center:

Why are some of my pics in one of my photo albums all of a sudden nothing but blank squares? They were always there before, but I just noticed they are blank now. How do I restore them?

He had better luck, as the thread exploded and has already received 70 replies, and not all of them are just people complaining about the problem. Facebook user Marc Kollins offered some insight:

These problems can be related to several possible issues including, but not limited to: - your Facebook Account Security settings (http vs https) - "overloaded" browser data files (cache/temporary internet files) - browser add-on apps (especially ad-block programs) - browser content block settings - ISP connection issues - a Facebook server error or downed server Based on experience, I would surmise that probable causes of these problems are related to the first two items listed above. To change your Facebook SSL/TLS protocols setting, select the options/settings button (down-arrow) in the upper-right-hand corner of the blue bar at the top of most of your Facebook pages > select "Account Settings" > select "Security" (left-hand column) > select "Secure Browsing" > if disabled, enable "Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) when possible." Clear your browser data files (cache/temporary internet files.) If neither of these solutions resolves the problem, I would suggest that you use a different browser, as a test, to determine if your current browser is the culprit. For example, if you are using iE, download Chrome or Firefox and see if the problem persists. If the problem does not occur using a different browser and you wish to continue using your current browser, I would suggest that you either update your current browser and flash player, or, remove both and re-install. If you choose to re-install your browser, make sure that you "export" a copy of your bookmarks/favorites so that you can "import" them after the re-install process.

Only the last suggestion worked for some users. The issue was resolved after switching to Google Chrome. Unfortunately, most users were not so lucky. They've tried different browsers, different computers, different accounts (followed by navigating to the albums in question), and they're still seeing blank boxes instead of photos.

Finally, Kollins stumbled on a possible answer:

I have checked about a dozen "blank" photos in various albums of about 4 or 5 people posting on this thread. Though I do not know how reliable the information is, ALL of the images in question appear to be associated with an IP address leading to an Akamai fbcdn (Facebook Content Distribution Network) server, located somewhere in Sweden. Please note that approximately 6 months ago, it was announced that Facebook was planning to construct a server farm in northern Sweden near the Arctic Circle. I do not know if Akamai or Facebook are currently having server and/or network problems, or, if the encountered issue is related to the reported Facebook construction in Sweden.

Could this issue come down to a broken server or servers in Sweden (Facebook building server farm just south of Arctic Circle)? It's possible, but until Facebook confirms we won't know for sure.

Facebook user Joan Madsen Lorge posted yet another question on the Facebook Help Center on Sunday:

Is anyone else missing photos in your albums? I am missing photos in several albums since I converted to Timeline. :( I reported it to Facebook a week or two ago, but as of now, they have not replaced my missing photos and I have not received a reply from them.

It has just five answers, all of them from frustrated Facebook users. It's not the first time someone suggested this has something to do with Facebook's new Timeline profile, but even users who don't have Timeline yet are missing photos.

It's unknown how many Facebook users are currently affected by this problem. 250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day, so it's understandable that things can go wrong. What is frustrating to these users is that Facebook has yet to respond to their inquiries.

I have contacted Facebook about this issue and will update you if I hear back. Thanks to Tom Carter for the heads up!

Update at 2:00 PM PST: Facebook has posted this under Known Issues: "Photos: Some people are seeing photos as blank squares in their albums and around the site. These photos are not lost and will begin to appear as we continue to work on this. Sorry for any inconvenience."

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