It happened just like most tragedies do: unexpected. Yesterday, the 4th of October, 2021 in the year of our Lord, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram went offline across the globe for close to 8 hours. The company’s family of platforms went cold at approximately 12:40 pm GMT.
The effect was immediate and palpable. Some businesses, especially those of the E-commerce kind, ground to a halt. From entertainment to health and commerce to communications, the outage of these popular social media platforms could be felt by everyone.
What could have made Mark Zuckerberg’s platforms go wonky? We still do not know for sure. No reason has been given by Facebook yet other than an apology.
Service came trickling in dollops late Monday night with the band of companies sending out this statement.
“To everyone who was affected by the outages on our platforms today: we’re sorry,” the company said. “We know billions of people and businesses around the world depend on our products and services to stay connected. We appreciate your patience as we come back online.”
Not much of a technical response or reason as to the cause of the outage, right? For now, users are getting ‘re-acquainted’ with what they missed out on during the blackout.
However, while Mark Zuckerberg’s platforms received no traffic other popular platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube were very much up and going. Micro-blogging platform Twitter especially had the majority of users sharing their feelings and experiences with the then on-going blackout. Some posts were funny, some witty and others very thought-provoking.
Here are 15 Twitter reactions to WhatsApp and Instagram’s blackout yesterday.
1. Vawuleeeence.
We've all said for years that Facebook and Instagram are toxic & that they are ruining society…
Today FB and Insta have been down & now we can all clearly see just how hollow and meaningless our lives are without them.
— Misha Collins (@mishacollins) October 5, 2021
2. We want FREE broadband. Free!
Upset that Facebook and Instagram aren’t loading?
Now you know what it’s like to live without broadband.
Fund ?? rural ?? broadband ??
— John Isner (@BigJohnIsner) October 4, 2021
3. Guess we got our reason.
Someone beautifully explained what happened to Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram. #facebookdown #serverdown ? pic.twitter.com/MFqZ0Jm71W
— #Saurabh Singh Rajput (@Saurabh18379725) October 5, 2021
4. “It reeks of conspiracy, Watson,” said Sherlock.
Between the Facebook "whistleblower" and the unexplained downtime of Facebook and Instagram for nearly an entire day, something is definitely up.
— Ashley St. Clair ?? (@stclairashley) October 4, 2021
5. Look to the stars?
Here's a picture of the surface of Mars, where Facebook and Instagram don't work either pic.twitter.com/s34TO2dazp
— Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) October 4, 2021
6. Red Devil fans always gotta devil.
Since WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram are down, I want to remind y’all that Manchester United is winning the Premier League and the champions league this season.
— Lατιf? (@iLatif_) October 4, 2021
7. My in! Kikiki!
all the Twitter Regulars teaming up to bully the people who’ve migrated here from the facebook and instagram shutdowns is very funny to me lol talking to them like benicio did emily blunt at the end of sicario lol pic.twitter.com/eROLn8dyIb
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) October 4, 2021
8. Mean!
Your dads just posted his rival football team next to WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram with the caption down.
— Sam (@swjnks83) October 4, 2021
9. Twitter assemble!
Twitter trying to keep social media alive while Facebook and Instagram are down pic.twitter.com/SJEXOwZyVj
— Phase Zero – MCU (@PhaseZeroCB) October 4, 2021
10. Truly.
It’s embarrassing to realize how I often I reflexively, for no reason, try to open Facebook and Instagram.
Today is a good wake-up call.— Marc Evan Jackson (@MarcEvanJackson) October 4, 2021
11. Allow us to deflect in peace.
People be more worried about facebook and Instagram down than their own career.?
— The Uniikk ? (@theuniikk) October 5, 2021
12. Chop-chop, form one logologo line.
Telegram accepting WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram users application now ?????? pic.twitter.com/HZMx6FhJtT
— Akrong Philip (@philip_akrong) October 4, 2021
13. Leave us alone!
This is how Whatsapp, facebook,and instagram addicts were looking on the streets of twitter last night??? pic.twitter.com/NvXZuS0Hb7
— Iamdave (@iamdavedigitecm) October 5, 2021
14. They did do that, didn’t they?
Twitter and TikTok taking the place of Facebook and Instagram #facebookdown pic.twitter.com/gSLKzdNo7a
— ek ??✨ (@holloway_____) October 4, 2021
15. A job well done.
Twitter after hosting WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram pic.twitter.com/AoOhA79bY6
— The CaN (@CanNyakundi) October 4, 2021
