On Tuesday, March 5, Meta-based products all crashed. No one was able to access Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp. The outage lasted nearly two hours. For some, it seemed to be a sporadic outage. Some people experienced it only on mobile, while for others it was a desktop issue, and for some people, it was actually both.
Many people thought they were hacked, which I hope was a good reminder and maybe even a wake-up call to remind users to regularly change passwords and keep their information protected. However, with the outage, we saw some interesting trends. Some people found they were more productive. This was partially because they didn’t have Facebook or Instagram to scroll throughout their workday. People actually got work done. Luckily for me, it was a day off so there wasn’t a lot that I needed to worry about other than everyone texting me you’re calling and asking is Facebook down? I think I’ve been hacked!
Diversity Matters
Another impact of the outage was the realization that we need to diversify. Several individuals and organizations realized that they don’t have backups in place. What are your backups? Are there other ways that you’re reaching out to your audiences?
One issue that I experienced involved an event that was going to be taking place in a Facebook group that I’m in. This event was not able to occur due to the outage. I did not receive an email or any sort of communication of when and/or if it would occur at a later time. In another group, there was a class that I was hoping to catch earlier in the day. For this group, the class was actually held on Zoom. In this case, the organizer of the the group sent out an email. Attendees now had information for the class, which was still being held via Zoom.
Processes for Your Data
This leads me to ask…“What processes do you have for an outage?” There is a real concern with having everything in one place. While it is super convenient, it can cause issues, as we saw with the outage on Tuesday.
Are you ensuring that you’re collecting phone numbers and emails for anyone that you’re doing business with on social media? This could include customers, potential clients, and even partnerships. Some individuals and organizations already choose to do their communication off of Meta. Popular options include Slack or Microsoft Teams.
The outage was also reported for WhatsApp and Threads. Do you ever forget that WhatsApp is a Meta product? WhatsApp is one of the most used apps around the world. This again leads me to the thought of what happens when we put all of our “eggs in one basket” so to speak.
Also, social media is frequently blamed for people not being productive in the workplace. While this can certainly be true, It’s also how a lot of people get their work done. Thousands work in the social media industry like myself, who rely on these platforms not crashing.
#FacebookDown…for real life
On a lighter note last month I attended Social Media Marketing World 2024. During the conference, myself and several others dressed up and personified the social media platforms. I was Instagram and we had various people playing the roles of the other platforms. At one point we took the picture that you see below, titled “#FacebookDown.” We did this as a joke since Facebook tends to crash more than the other social platforms. This is really the only reason I have used Twitter/X for some time now, checking for the #FacebookDown hashtag! I guess we should’ve done Instagram down as well haha.
Avoid Panic During the Next #FacebookDown
But in all seriousness, what was the impact that the outage had on you? Are you starting to question anything that you’re doing as far as your processes? With the recent announcement that Facebook Groups API will be shut down to third-party tools, people were already starting to question the use of groups on Facebook for a variety of uses. Is this outage going to impact you even further in making that decision?
Another important thing to keep in mind is Facebook is not the only one that crashes. Any website can have these sorts of issues. This is not a Meta-centric problem. This outage showed many that like anything in life, make sure that you have backups! Something could happen to your phone at any given time. Do you have those addresses, phone numbers, or any of that important information in another format? What about your photos?
It’s always a good practice to have important information in more places than just one. And with that jewel of wisdom, I will leave you with the final note of making sure that you follow Pink Sheep on all social media platforms including the Meta-products, Facebook and Instagram, but don’t forget about TikTok and LinkedIn, where you can also get updates from me regularly. You can also subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here. ⬇️