©Mark Ollig
“Sorry, something went wrong,” this is the greeting
many of us observed while attempting to access Facebook early the morning of
Nov. 12.
Facebook, its WhatsApp for Android users, and its
Instagram photo and video sharing service were all unavailable – Facebook’s
main website had crashed.
So, what did many of us do? We went to our other social
media platform to tell everyone our Facebook was down and see if it was down for
others, as well.
When I logged into Twitter, I noted “#Facebookdown” was
trending, and many were messaging their displeasure using memes, GIFs, videos,
photos, and text.
The website, https://downdetector.com collects the
status of internet sites in real-time and provides reports on outages and
service interruptions.
Downdetector is operated by Ookla, which, according to
its website banner, “is the global leader in internet testing, data, and
analysis.”
Downdetector’s main webpage lists the status of more
than 100 of the most popular websites, including Facebook, Google, YouTube,
Gmail, AOL, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, PayPal, and Amazon.
Each website is shown with its trademark icon, and has
a clickable link for viewing its current operating status.
A search feature on the upper right-hand corner of the
website’s banner bar will display statistics of other sites and internet
service providers by typing in the name and pressing enter.
The morning of Nov. 12, when I could not log into
Facebook, I went to Downdetector’s webpage, clicked the Facebook icon, and saw
a graph displaying its operating status for the last 24 hours. It confirmed
problems being reported.
Facebook’s total outage was at 47 percent for users
worldwide; 35 percent reported login problems, and 16 percent cited issues
using their Facebook app.
Downdetector’s Facebook outage map showed most of the
central and eastern US out of service, including parts of Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, and Peru.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, users were busy posting
comments, such as “The only good thing about Facebook being down? Twitter gets
with everybody tweeting about it,” posted @Jezahb.
Others, like @QueenLisaBaily, posted a screengrab with
the “Sorry, something went wrong” Facebook message from their computer.
“Alright, everyone, #Facebookdown, so it’s time to
actually work,” posted @idnarB_eeL_03.
“Why Twitter is better than Facebook. When Twitter is
down, people don’t go running to Facebook to find out what happened,” messaged
@ignatzz,
Humor was included with many of the #Facebookdown
tweets: “And but for a brief moment, our brains began growing new cells and
families could speak again,” said @bwithrow.
Another amusing Twitter post showed a GIF with a young
man heavily breathing into a paper bag, with the message, “Facebook is down!
Everyone stay calm!” by @SooziiQ2.
“Yes, I am one of those who immediately went to Twitter
to figure out if I was the only one whose Facebook wasn’t working,” tweeted
@sam_morrow14.
Twitter user, @LynwoodCarmich1, posted a GIF of a
smiling Vladimir Putin.
I, too, posted a screengrab of the Facebook outage map
of North America from my computer. I used Windows 10 MS Paint to point out my
location with an arrow and the word, “Me!”, over Minnesota.
For me, Facebook was down for about an hour, and within
a couple of hours, most of North America was able to access Facebook.
A spokesperson from Facebook released this statement
about the outage, “Earlier today, a routine test caused users to have trouble
accessing or posting to all Facebook services, including WhatsApp and
Instagram. We quickly investigated and restored access for everyone. We’re
sorry for the inconvenience.”
Facebook did not describe what the “routine test” was
about.
The last time Facebook suffered a major crash was Sept.
28, 2015, which, oddly, was also a Monday.
Just a thought: I wonder if Facebook runs their routine
tests Mondays.
The 2015 crash was triggered because Facebook’s
Internet address would not load, thus causing it to be inaccessible for more
than 1 billion computers and smart device-users worldwide.
As happened four years ago, this past Monday, thousands
of Facebook users took to Twitter to commiserate and post their displeasure –
yes, misery does love company.
The following paragraph is how I envision legendary
news reporter Walter Cronkite broadcasting the Facebook outage.
“Good evening from the CBS News Control Center in New
York. This is Walter Cronkite reporting. We are receiving printed teletype
bulletins into our newsroom confirming the social media site, Facebook, is
unreachable by its internet patrons. We will bring you the latest updates as we
receive them.”
And that’s the way it is. Have a good week.
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| The screengrab from my computer indicating I, too, was suffering from the Facebook outage. |