Facebook, Instagram outages suprise local social media users

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The day started off with a blank screen for many who turned to social media Tuesday morning, leaving them asking — where’s my Facebook and Instagram?

“I tried getting on Instagram and it said couldn’t load the feed. I was like what’s wrong?” said James Boone, a University of Memphis student. “Then my friend, he was like, Facebook and Instagram are down.”

Meta services went down around 9:30 Tuesday morning. Those trying to sign on were automatically logged off and unable to get back on. Service was back after about an hour and a half.

What caused the Facebook, Instagram outages?

For many it’s a big inconvenience. But for those who have built a business and brand around the social media site, it’s much more.

“Plenty of people use Instagram as a livelihood, to an extent. I know even an hour is enough for them to lose revenue or lose money in general,” said U of M senior Endiyiah Franklin.

Facebook responded early on, saying it was aware people were having trouble accessing services, and they were working on it.

But at a time when computer systems are being hacked and cyber attacks are a real threat, the loss, even temporarily, of something many have come to rely can give everyone pause.

“I was very surprised,” Boone said. “It’s like AT&T, how they went down a couple of days ago, I was like, what in the world is going on?”

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Facebook apologized for the incovenience in a post to X, but still hasn’t indicated just what went wrong.

CBS News reported more than half a million Facebook and Instagram users reported widespread issues.

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