Reports have emerged of significant outages affecting two of Meta’s flagship applications, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, with users expressing frustration over their inability to access essential features. According to data from Downdetector, over two thousand individuals have reported issues with Instagram, while a notable spike in outages has also been observed for Facebook Messenger.
Users Voice Their Concerns
As the situation unfolded, users took to various platforms to share their experiences. Many reported difficulties in sending direct messages (DMs) on Instagram. One user lamented, “MY DM’S ARE NOT WORKING! As in I can’t see anything or open a new one.” Another added, “Ignored your DM? No, I didn’t! Instagram is down.” A third user highlighted additional complications, stating, “Anyone else experiencing issues with typing? It was fine last night, but now I’m trying to make posts and the keyboard is glitching out only on this app.” This user noted that while they found a workaround by typing more slowly, the disruption was nonetheless frustrating.
Many users reported an inability to share posts or upload content, with attempts to send DMs resulting in a persistent error message: “failed to send message. Try again?” Unfortunately, repeated attempts yielded the same result.
Widespread Impact and User Reactions
With over 33 million users in the UK alone, Instagram holds a prominent position as the most popular app in several countries, including India, the US, Brazil, Turkey, and Indonesia. The outage reportedly began around 11:30 AM, and users continue to experience difficulties with the photo and video-sharing platform.
In typical fashion during such outages, users have turned to rival social media platforms to voice their concerns and seek information. Many have taken to X (formerly known as Twitter), posting about their struggles with Meta’s services.
The precise number of users affected by this outage remains unclear, as Downdetector relies on user reports to gauge the extent of service disruptions. This incident is reminiscent of a previous outage in early 2024, which impacted hundreds of thousands of Facebook and Instagram users globally for over two hours due to a technical issue on Meta’s end. At that time, reports peaked at over 550,000 for Facebook and approximately 92,000 for Instagram.
