The next time you see https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr , treat it with respect. It looks like a broken piece of code, but it’s actually a monument to the era when the world went mobile. It is a ghost that haunts the web, reminding us that every click is tracked, every device is categorized, and nothing on the internet is ever truly simple.
The _rdr parameter was the traffic cop. It ensured that no matter where a link was shared—an email newsletter, a text message, a comment on a blog—Facebook intercepted the request first. It allowed them to: https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr
There are several reasons why you might prefer to use the mobile version of Facebook: The next time you see https://m