Khaberni - "Meta" announced the end of a historic era on "Facebook" by the arrival of next year, as it discontinues its most prominent external interactive tools.
As of February 10, 2026, the "Like" and "Share" buttons will cease to function across all external sites, thus ending a 16-year journey.
These buttons were launched in 2010 as a bridge connecting Facebook and the open web, where they allowed users to share and like external content directly from their favorite sites.
By external sites, it means all the internet sites that are not owned by "Meta", the owner of "Facebook". When you visit a website, like a news site or an online shopping store, and see the "Like" or "Share on Facebook" button at the bottom of an article or next to a product, that site you are browsing is an external site.
These buttons allow you to share content or vote on it with a "like" without the need to leave the site.
But "Meta" sees these tools as representing a historical phase of web evolution, and they no longer align with its modern vision for a more efficient and specialized platform.
The company has reassured developers and site managers, confirming that the discontinuation will be carried out smoothly without affecting the user experience. Instead of technical errors appearing, these buttons will automatically become invisible, while maintaining all the essential functions of the sites.
Although the automatic removal is guaranteed, "Meta" encourages developers to remove the programming codes associated with these tools beforehand to ensure a smoother user experience. This step marks the culmination of a broader shift in the company's strategy, which is increasingly moving towards isolating its platforms from the open digital environment, raising questions about the future of the internet and the interaction between its various platforms.
