Instagram and Facebook suffer global outage today
- Users worldwide encountered difficulties sending direct messages on Instagram and Facebook.
- The outage began around 7 am ET and affected people in the US, UK, Australia, and several countries in Europe and Asia.
- Thousands reported issues, highlighting the importance of these platforms for communication and raising concerns about service reliability.
On Tuesday, October 29, 2024, a widespread outage affected Instagram and Facebook, resulting in users being unable to send direct messages. Starting around 7 am ET, complaints surged from users in major American cities such as New York City and Los Angeles, with additional reports coming from the UK, Australia, and parts of Europe and Asia. This outage particularly hampered Instagram Direct Messages and Facebook Messenger, showing a significant decrease in functionality and user satisfaction. According to Downdetector, which tracks online service disruptions, the majority of the problems were reported in Instagram’s app, with connection issues also cited. As frustration mounted, many users took to social media to express their concern and see if others were experiencing similar problems, concluding that it wasn't a personal issue but rather a system-wide failure. Users faced errors attempting to send messages across the platforms, raising questions about potential account bans or hacks. Despite the scale of the disruption, Meta, the parent company of both platforms, has not officially acknowledged the outage, leaving users without explanations or updates. Approximately 375 million people utilize Instagram Direct Messages monthly, indicating the significant impact of this service failure on communication habits. The discontent surrounding this event hints at broader feelings regarding the reliability of social media services. As the situation unravels, users are left wondering about the reasons behind the disruption and the future reliability of these essential communication tools.