Facebook Share Dialog Box Not Showing Image the First Time You Share a Story?

Photo adapted from “Share” by GotCredit (Flickr, Creative Commons).

A few people have asked me lately about a specific problem with Facebook image sharing. Here’s what happens: When you post a new article and then try to share it on Facebook, the image does not show up in the Facebook sharing pop-up box. However, later (trying it again, or having someone else try it), it does show up. But that very first share doesn’t seem to work.

I’ve been asked a few times lately: Why? This article will explain this particular issue because what you want, of course, is a proper-looking share dialog box sch as the following:

This is an interesting technical issue, actually. What you’re experiencing isn’t in fact an error; what’s happening when you first click share on a new article is that Facebook has never seen your article before. That’s not problematic when it comes to the text and description of your share. (Most people report that the title and description are fine.) But, for images in particular, it’s different.

Here’s the deal: Facebook likes to know some information about your images before it shares them. Yes, it needs the URL for the image, but most people are…