Facebook Experiences Its Longest Downtime Ever

Social media has become an integral part of our lives today, as well as our online identity. So when Facebook had its longest downtime to date, on Wednesday (March 13, 2019), many users around the world found themselves unsettled by the sudden disruption in their online social lives.

On March 13, Facebook experienced a worldwide outage, with issues ranging from users unable to post, reply to comments or use Messenger, to not being able to load the site at all. Instagram was also affected, leaving users unable to upload their photos.

Downdetector.com reported about 30% of Facebook users having issues

Reports of problems with Facebook peaked at over 12,000 worldwide late Wednesday according to Downdetector, a website where users can report problems on apps and websites. (cnbc.com)

Rumours initially spread of a hacker flooding the Facebook family of companies (FB, IG & Whatsapp) with bogus news traffic causing the glitches worldwide, but Facebook responded by attributing the issues to a 'server configuration change.'

For some, social media apps like Facebook are their online identity, where they share their joys and woes with friends and family, who live far away or are too busy to visit frequently. It is a convenient way to keep in contact as well as keep track of social events and get togethers with friends.

“The facebook crash made me feel like I'd lost control over a very important aspect of my life, my online identity. I couldn't respond to comments directed at me and I felt silenced. I didn't realize how much of an impact a simple crash could have on me and it made me wonder what a worldwide shutdown of the social media app would look like. I mean, I don't know more than half of my Facebook friends' phone numbers or even email addresses anymore. My social contact is hugely dependent on Facebook.” -David from Barrie, Ontario

"A lot of my friends exist to me online only. (If that makes sense.) I've never met them in person. And when I couldn't communicate with them... I felt a little panicked. It's funny how much we depend on social media, now. But then, Facebook made us this way. They can't just take it away." - Amanda from Lethbridge, AB.

While others didn’t feel the temporary Facebook crash affected them at all.

“It wasn’t bad at all. If all social media disappeared, it wouldn’t be bad at all. I think we’d survive... I think people would just have to be more intentional with their interactions and get phone numbers and email or whatever."- Courtney from Diamond City, AB

"It was slightly inconvenient but not overly troubling for me."

- Mandy from Sherwood Park, AB

Whether this Facebook outage left you feeling helpless at the loss of access to an important part of your social life, or you didn’t even notice at all, Facebook continues to have an impact on the social lives of significant numbers of people around the world today, and the fate of their online social lives lie in the hands of the decision makers at Facebook.

Were you affected by the Facebook outage yesterday? If so, did it impact you? Do you rely on social media for planning your events and keeping in touch with your contacts? Leave a comment below!