Meta's social media empire, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, experienced a global outage, leaving users worldwide unable to access essential features such as scrolling, posting, and contacting friends. 

It's been over two weeks since the last downtime happened and yet, this another mess disappointed many people who used the social platforms.

The disruption began around 10:45 am ET, affecting users in the US, the UK, Europe, Asia, and beyond, with DownDetector reporting widespread issues across the platforms.

How Did the Recent Meta Outage Start

According to The New York Post, the exact cause of the outage remains unknown, but it comes just 15 days after a similar incident caused by an internal issue. 

Reports from DownDetector indicate that Facebook users are encountering account suspension notifications or session expirations, while Messenger displays users as "unavailable to friends." 

On the other hand, Instagram users are reporting issues with comments, messaging, and the News Feed.

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Facebook and Instagram Users Are Growing Frustrated

Affected users are expressing frustration and confusion on social media platforms like X, seeking confirmation and commiseration from fellow users. 

Hashtags such as #Facebookdown and #Instagramdown are trending, attracting attention from users worldwide. However, amidst the outage, scammers have emerged, falsely claiming they can help users regain access to their accounts.

In another report by Mirror, one user complained that her notifications are gone. She could not also find the search history content on the feed.

Another person wrote that Facebook My Day went full-white after a few minutes. He could not view any updates on his friends since there's nothing to click.

Recurrence of Past Outages

The current outage evokes memories of past disruptions, notably the outage on March 5, which lasted for approximately two hours. 

During that incident, users expressed outrage at being unable to access Meta's platforms. While the exact cause of the current outage is unclear, reports suggest internal system issues within Meta may be contributing factors.

Impact on Meta's Services

Meta's service dashboard, which monitors platform functionality, initially indicated significant disruptions before shifting to "Unknown" status for all services. This incident pinpoints the vulnerability of centralized digital platforms and raises questions as to how Meta handles its social media platforms during downtime.

Historical Context of Meta's Glaring Outage

The outage is reminiscent of a similar incident three years ago when Meta experienced a seven-hour blackout, resulting in substantial revenue losses. 

That outage, caused by a faulty update, highlighted the challenges of maintaining large-scale digital infrastructure, especially during a pandemic when staffing and communication can be affected.

The new outage reportedly affects hundreds of thousands of users globally. This could signal that Meta should seriously work out its plan to avoid such mishap in the future-or else this might force the users to migrate to another platform.

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