Does typing the word “gratula” into Facebook comments section tell you if your account has been hacked?
A meme doing the rounds on Facebook in Nigeria and South Africa says so.
“Mark Zuckerberg Facebook CEO, created a new word GRATULA......To keep your account safe, write GRATULA ,in the comment section,” it reads.
“If it turns RED, your account is still safe, if it doesn't change, please change your password. Your account is already hacked.”
Gratula is not a new word created by Zuckerberg.
We typed “gratula” into Google Translate, with the “detect language” option selected. It turns out to be a Hungarian word for “congrats” – short for “congratulations”. A number of other online translation tools confirmed this.
Facebook text delights is a feature that produces animations when certain words – in many languages – are typed in the comment box. The words include “you’re the best”, “bff”, “best wishes” – and “congrats”.
When Facebook detects one of the text delights keywords, it changes the colour of the word. “Congrats” and “gratula” are changed to red. This lets the user confirm that they want the animation to appear.
Once the comment is posted, coloured words and animations pop up on the screen. “Gratula” produces confetti and balloons.
The text delights feature doesn’t always work. One post says some users have reported difficulties with the animations, which may be “based on your country or language settings”. There might also be problems when you use Facebook on your phone.
So no, typing “gratula” in the comments section on Facebook doesn’t tell you if your account has been hacked. It’s just a keyword in the text delights feature, which automatically turns the word red. – Eileen Jahn
A meme doing the rounds on Facebook in Nigeria and South Africa says so.
“Mark Zuckerberg Facebook CEO, created a new word GRATULA......To keep your account safe, write GRATULA ,in the comment section,” it reads.
“If it turns RED, your account is still safe, if it doesn't change, please change your password. Your account is already hacked.”
Congrats in Hungarian
Gratula is not a new word created by Zuckerberg.
We typed “gratula” into Google Translate, with the “detect language” option selected. It turns out to be a Hungarian word for “congrats” – short for “congratulations”. A number of other online translation tools confirmed this.
Facebook’s text delights changes word colour
Facebook text delights is a feature that produces animations when certain words – in many languages – are typed in the comment box. The words include “you’re the best”, “bff”, “best wishes” – and “congrats”.
When Facebook detects one of the text delights keywords, it changes the colour of the word. “Congrats” and “gratula” are changed to red. This lets the user confirm that they want the animation to appear.
Once the comment is posted, coloured words and animations pop up on the screen. “Gratula” produces confetti and balloons.
The text delights feature doesn’t always work. One post says some users have reported difficulties with the animations, which may be “based on your country or language settings”. There might also be problems when you use Facebook on your phone.
So no, typing “gratula” in the comments section on Facebook doesn’t tell you if your account has been hacked. It’s just a keyword in the text delights feature, which automatically turns the word red. – Eileen Jahn
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Further Reading
Governments in Africa have doubled ‘false news’ laws, to little effect. Another way is possible
Since 2016, the 11 countries we studied nearly doubled their laws and regulations on misinformation. There is little to show for it.
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