A supposed Sunday night scroll and getting up to date with one's followings and their feed turned out to be a millennial and Gen Z hell when Instagram was inaccessible around the world. It was not a local or national problem, as reports have popped up from global users of the social media for its error message whenever refreshing the feed.

The good thing is that it was immediately confirmed by Meta and fixed by the company, with the renowned social media now back online and performing normally.

(Photo : OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Instagram was Down, Experiencing Errors in Updating the Feed

In a brief period of panic, Instagram experienced a temporary outage, leaving millions of users unable to access the popular social media platform. Users flooded social media channels like Twitter, to express their frustration and report the issues they encountered during the downtime.

An error message displaying "Couldn't Refresh Feed" greeted those attempting to browse their Instagram feed.

Downdetector.com also saw a surge of reports from users saying that they cannot refresh their feed and load the new content.

The outage affected various functionalities of the platform. While users could still access their old posts, Reels, and stories, the inability to load new posts and data left them feeling disconnected from the latest updates and content.

For a platform that thrives on real-time sharing, the disruption caused significant inconvenience for individuals and businesses alike, on the faithful Sunday night.

Read Also: Instagram's TikTok-like Reels Increase User Time, According to Meta's Q1 2023 Report

Meta Fixed Instagram and is Now Back Online

Meta acknowledged the issue through a statement provided to The Verge. The company confirmed the widespread reports of users facing difficulties and assured them that they were actively working on a fix to restore full functionality to the platform.

Shortly after the acknowledgment from Meta, Instagram's technical team sprung into action, swiftly addressing the underlying problem. The efforts put forth by the team resulted in a speedy resolution, with Instagram quickly returning to normal operation.

Don't Worry, These Crashes are Normal

Outages are not uncommon for popular online platforms, and social media services are no exception. The intricate technical infrastructure supporting these platforms can occasionally encounter hiccups, leading to temporary disruptions in service.

Still, this is not the first time Instagram was down, and on several occasions in the past, the platform encountered problems with its servers and the like.

However, the prompt response and resolution demonstrated by Meta in this instance are commendable, as they prioritized restoring Instagram's functionality to ensure minimal disruption for its vast user base.

Users may check on Instagram's operations from time to time by getting help on the platform and looking at its issues.

Social Media is already a massive part of everyone's lives, and seeing a crash like this could devastate some, as it remains an integral part of their lifestyle, like Instagram. The good thing now is that it is back online, but Meta has yet to give an explanation of what happened to the app.

Related Article: Meta Expands Tests to Compensate Creators on Facebook, Instagram Reels