Title: Widespread Service Interruption Hits Meta-Owned Apps in US, India, and Europe
Summary
Meta-owned apps, including Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Threads, experienced a widespread service interruption in the US, India, and parts of Europe. Users faced delays in uploading content, sending messages, and app crashes. The outage was not related to internet disruptions or filtering. Threads, a text-based conversation app developed by Instagram, aims to challenge Twitter’s dominance and gained over 30 million users within 24 hours of launch. While users can engage in discussions and share various content types on Threads, the app’s data policy received criticism from Twitter’s CEO and founder. The service disruption highlights the significant impact and reliance on social media platforms, with Meta working to resolve the issues and ensure a seamless user experience.
Introduction:
Social media users experienced a widespread service interruption on Friday as Meta-owned apps, including Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Threads, faced technical issues in the US, India, and certain parts of Europe. Users reported delays in uploading content, sending messages, and experiencing app crashes. While the outage impacted media upload endpoints and Messenger services, it was not related to country-level internet disruptions or filtering, according to NetBlocks, a global internet monitor.
Service Disruption Details:
Meta services, including Instagram, faced a widespread outage in the US, UK, Italy, and France, with some users reporting frequent app crashing and closures. Downdetector, a service checker, recorded over 450 user reports of problems related to Meta applications. These issues affected various functionalities such as uploading images and videos, causing inconvenience to users.
Threads: A Rival to Twitter:
Threads, a text-based conversation app developed by Instagram, aims to challenge the dominance of rival social media platform Twitter. The app enables communities to engage in discussions on diverse topics, ranging from current affairs to upcoming trends. Since its launch, Threads has gained over 30 million users within 24 hours, showcasing its potential impact. Users aged 12 and older can access Threads through their Instagram accounts, where they can post threads, reply to others, and follow profiles of interest.
Functionality and Data Policy:
Threads allows users to share short pieces of text, links, photos, videos, or a combination thereof. People can follow other users to view their threads and replies in their feeds, with post accessibility determined by the profile’s privacy settings. However, the app’s data policy faced criticism from Twitter CEO Elon Musk and its founder Jack Dorsey, highlighting the ongoing competition in the social media landscape.
Conclusion:
The widespread service interruption faced by Meta-owned apps highlighted the reliance of millions of users on these platforms for communication and content sharing. While the technical issues caused inconvenience, Meta is working to resolve them and ensure a seamless user experience. As social media platforms continue to evolve and compete, the emergence of apps like Threads adds new dimensions to online conversations and engagement.
Note: The outage details and information mentioned in this article are based on user reports and publicly available sources.