PHOTO GLITCH: WhatsApp, Instagram and FaceBook is down globally.

WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram is down. The influencers panic. Their power is waning. Smashed avocado on sourdough doesn’t seem to so appetising in this cruel, filterless world. They cling to their hair vitamins, screaming ‘hashtag blessed’. Even detox tea can’t save them now. #InstagramDown #WhatsAppDown #FaceBookdown

Users across the United Kingdom, Europe and parts of Africa are taking to Twitter to complain about not being able to load, send or receive images, videos or voice notes via WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. Neither via the app, nor on the website version. Text messages appear to work at times but voice notes, videos and photos do not go through. Instead, users get a ‘download failed’ message with a prompt to try again.Interestingly, the preview image does appear, but the image cannot be opened. And the preview appears fuzzy.

And that’s the problem…#WhatsAppDown pic.twitter.com/3fhSpaaSaD

— Pawan Lakeshar (@iPawanLakeshar) July 3, 2019

Facebook acknowledged the problem. The issue was first noted when several hundred users logged complaints on the outage tracker Down Detector late Wednesday afternoon. Facebook confirmed that they are attending to the issue:

“We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble uploading images, videos and other files on our apps. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.”

Unfortunately, Facebook hasn’t revealed the exact cause of the outage. However, 82% of those who reported problems with Instagram said the issue was with the News Feed, 11% with the website, and 6% with log-in. A quick search on Is It Down Right Now showed that there is a “possible Service Disruption” with Instagram.com and facebook.com. A possible explanation. While Facebook remains mum about the crash, Jane Manchun Wong shared some insight on Twitter. Wong, a technology blogger and app researcher, explained:

“Facebook image CDN is down, affecting Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. ‘x-fb-response-reason: No server is available for the request.’”

She joked that

“Facebook is under DDoS attack”

according to a source, and added:

“I highly suspect this cyberattack is state-sponsored [China flag emoji].”

Update: She has since deleted that tweet, and said instead:

“No, China previously attacked Telegram. And now Facebook too. We Hong Kongers communicate with these platforms, making decentralized protests possible. Taking these down could negatively impact our communication.”

#WhatsAppdown Mark Zuckernberg is showing us that he’s the bread winner 😹😹😹

— Thabo Mogotlane (@Gen_Thabo) July 3, 2019

Seeing that WhatsApp and Instagram are down, or at least their image services are, caused some frustration and confusion on my part. I thought it was just my fault, that my WiFi or 4G wasn’t working, so I turned them off and on and off and on again, then even turned my phone off and back on. Only then did I check Twitter to see what other people were saying, and realized that the networks, and Facebook, were down throughout the world.

Me turning my wifi on and off 25 times in a row and suddenly opens twitter and realized… ohh! stop blaming your wifi Everytime😂🤣🤣🤣 #instagramdown #WhatsAppDown #facebookdown pic.twitter.com/lbNbLixIiM

— meinrad junior (@meinrad395) July 3, 2019

On one hand, I feel a bit relieved that I can’t check photos or statuses from other people. On the other hand, I probably feel more frustrated that I can’t do exactly that. Then it makes me feel somewhat embarr@ssed to admit to myself how addicted I feel to these platforms. Over the years, my friends have said to me that FB and these other apps aren’t that addictive, just put your phone down and go back to life. However, for some reason, they got me good. I think it’s because I really like chatting with people. I’ve met so many people from so many places across the world, and with chat, I can maintain connection with them. I don’t know what it is, but I definitely feel quite addicted at times. I love banter and sometimes it’s easy to forget that. I want to pull back and just say that maybe my impetus for writing this is to reach out and touch more people. What I like about having my own blog, is that, even if Twitter, FB, Instagram, and WhatsApp go down, then I’m able to have a place to write, to express myself, to connect virtually with the world.

This is Twitter users when Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp is Down #instagramdown #WhatsAppDown #facebookdown pic.twitter.com/ALB8trACxs

— Stranger follower (@StrangerBukhari) July 3, 2019

And in a way, it feels more freeing, as I’m not expecting dialogue or interaction. Hell, if I’m lucky, someone will read it 🙂 Perhaps this feels like rambling to you, and it is. I yearn for more people to ramble to me and perhaps this is me leading by example. I like rambling because it shows the internal conflicts, dilemmas, and overall mess that is humanity.