Elizabeth Weise

USATODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — An apparent glitch on Facebook Friday afternoon added a memorial note at the top of users' pages, including that of CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The notices seem to have first appeared at around 3:45 Eastern time.

The wording was the same in all cases. For instance: "Remembering Mark Zuckerberg. We hope people who love Mark will find comfort in the things others share to remember and celebrate his life. Learn more about memorialized accounts and the legacy contact setting on Facebook."

The notices were up only briefly before the glitch was corrected.

Facebook said the mistaken posts were a terrible error, it was very sorry it had happened and that it had worked as quickly as possible to fix it.

Facebook allows loved ones to “memorialize” the account of someone who had died, to allows their family and friends to remember the person and pay tribute to the life they life.

In a posting in 2011, Facebook’s Chengos Fei wrote about the option.

“We hope that by allowing the people who use our service a chance to mourn together and remember someone who passed away, people can find comfort in sharing happy and heartwarming stories about their departed friend or family member."