Technology has provided the world with so many invaluable discoveries and advancements. It has helped firms and companies grow to levels previously unmatched. Another important function of technology, specifically the internet, has been to connect people across the globe through social media and messaging platforms. This new form of connecting with people has become the norm in today’s society. Rather than sending mail by post, we send an email or a text message. Instead of using the landline or even our mobile phones, we more frequently use the video call function of platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Viber, WhatsApp, FaceTime, among others. Even firms have made the switch from traditional billboard signs toward Instagram advertisements and promotions. These media applications have become so integrated into everyday life, that it would be hard for individuals, as well as businesses, to survive without them.
So, what happens if these platforms are taken away? This question arose on October 4, 2021, when there was a sudden global outage of some primary media applications. These were the Facebook-owned services: Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, Workplace, and Facebook. A Domain Name System (DNS) error was responsible for this event (Duffy & Lyngaas, 2021).
If you ask anyone how this time was for them, you will easily understand that the impact of this outage was significant. Families trying to get a hold of one another from different countries were unable to reach their loved ones. Companies were unable to deliver on pre-planned promotions or launches for their products/services on Instagram. Some were unable to attend appointments because they could not communicate with the other party. In fact, with these sites being down, other websites such as Twitter were impacted by experiencing an overload of traffic to their pages as a result (Clark, 2021). In addition, Facebook has been impacted financially, as evidenced by its falling stock prices (Duffy & Lyngaas, 2021).
At the time of writing this article, the issue is still not resolved and the sites continue to be down. This event has clearly shown that society is so deeply enveloped and dependent on technology, that when it fails, people are almost unable to function in certain areas of life. Therefore, it is essential that companies prioritize their IT and network infrastructure, and constantly update their systems to ensure that consumers are receiving the best experience at all times.
References
Clark, M. (2021, October 4). “Twitter, is it down, and tons of other sites are struggling due to the Facebook outage”. The Verge. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/4/22709123/facebook-outage-down-detector-cloudflare.
Duffy, C., & Lyngaas, S. (2021, October 4). “Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp Go Down.” CNN, Cable News Network. Retrieved 4 Oct. 2021, from https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/04/tech/facebook-instagram-whatsapp-outage/index.html
Interesting article, the outage had a very significant impact for sure. I nearly forgot about the impact a Whatsapp outage could have on society, as it is now widely used not only informally, but also formally.