Facebook Outage Feature

Why Facebook (and Instagram) Went Down on March 5, 2024

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On Tuesday, March 5th, 2024, millions of Facebook and Instagram users around the world were met with an unwelcome surprise: they couldn’t access their accounts. The outage, which lasted for nearly two hours, left many scrambling for information and disconnected from their social circles.

While the exact cause remains undisclosed by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, some details have emerged.

The Technical Glitch Behind the Blackout

According to Meta, the outage stemmed from a technical issue. However, specifics are limited. Some experts speculate it may have involved the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), a routing system that directs traffic across the internet. In a similar Facebook outage in 2021, a BGP error caused the social media giant’s domain name system (DNS) servers to become unreachable, essentially making Facebook invisible to the internet.

The Impact of the Outage

The outage’s impact was widespread. Downdetector, a website that tracks online outages, saw a surge in reports from users globally. Many users were logged out of Facebook, while others were unable to access Instagram altogether. The outage even affected Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality space offered by Meta, leaving some users unable to connect to the metaverse.

Lack of Transparency from Meta

While Meta acknowledged the issue and apologized for the inconvenience, they have provided little explanation for the cause of the outage. This lack of transparency has frustrated some users, particularly in light of the outage coinciding with “Super Tuesday,” a key day in US elections when social media platforms are crucial for political campaigning.

The Aftermath and Questions that Remain

Thankfully, Meta was able to resolve the issue within a few hours, and Facebook and Instagram services returned to normal. However, the outage raises questions about the stability of Meta’s platforms and the potential impact of such disruptions on communication and social interaction.

As of now, we wait for a more detailed explanation from Meta regarding the cause of the outage. This would not only improve transparency but also help prevent similar occurrences in the future.

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