The Meta outage prompts online users to switch to X

Meta, the tech behemoth behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been hit by a massive technical meltdown, leaving thousands of users across the globe in a state of digital purgatory.

The outages, which began around 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, have been reported by a staggering number of users worldwide. According to DownDetector, a website that monitors service disruptions, approximately 12,000 incidents were reported by U.S. users alone. The situation was no better abroad, with over 20,000 users in India, 46,000 in the United Kingdom, and 42,000 in Brazil expressing their frustration.

As news of the outage spread, social media users took to X, (formerly Twitter) to voice their anger and dismay and, in some cases, their amusement. “Everyone is running to Twitter X as in an earthquake when #WhatsApp goes down!” quipped one user. “People rushing to Twitter X if #WhatsApp is down,” said another.

While Meta’s platforms have experienced outages in the past, this particular incident has sent shockwaves through the digital landscape, leaving users adrift in a sea of uncertainty and boredom.

While Facebook and Instagram remained silent, WhatsApp released a statement acknowledging the issues and promising to work “on getting things back to 100% for everyone as quickly as possible.”