WEB EXCLUSIVE

The day social media apps shutdown: People woke up to their social media not working, many apps saying there was no connection when others’ connection was completely fine.

Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp have been affected by this; causing panic when users couldn’t update their latest post, post to their story, communicate, like photos, or enjoy videos. Many people who use these platforms were confused, upset, or just turned to other platforms for the day.

On September 30 and October 4th social media apps, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram had shut down for six hours. This was caused by private info leaked onto Facebook, which also affected Whatsapp and Instagram. 

The outage had led Twitter and TikTok to be the most used app that day since those two weren’t impacted by the outage, some people found ways to enjoy their time on those platforms or had time with themselves or family for the day. 

However, the outage did cause some issues, Facebook is a main internet source around the world and families use it to connect with each other even businesses may use it . Whatsapp is a cheaper way to text with others, used to text those in other countries. Instagram is used in all types of ways to impact families, businesses  and influencers, etc. 

Students and staff at Oviedo High School have been impacted by this outage, but have found other ways to communicate and spend their time off of those social media platforms or turned to other apps that worked completely fine during those six hours. 

Brianna Cosby, a senior, knew about the shutdown from two to three weeks ago.

”I don’t remember anything from the last couple of weeks,” Cosby said. “I really didn’t do anything after the shutdown, all we did was sit there and do whatever that week had to offer,” said Cosby. 

Not every teacher knew about Instagram and Facebook shutting down, but some did. Art teacher Mrs. Sansone, knew what was going on and decided to use her time for something more entertaining for herself.

“I knew Instagram and Facebook were down, so instead of being on those two platforms for the day I decided to use my time on Duolingo all day,” Sansone said.  

On the other hand, Physics teacher, Mr. Chisholm, didn’t know about both social media shutting down, but used his time off for other useful things when he had found out.

”I didn’t know they were actually down until after school, but when I did I realized they were down, I researched why it was down and distributed that information to family and friends,” Chisholm said. “Then during my down time, I did nothing on my phone..I took my dog on a walk and sat outside with my dog. It’s really nice to enjoy moments like this. I think Instagram and Facebook should shut down more often so people can have a break and connect,” said Chisholm.

When social media platforms shut down, people will always find a way to entertain themselves or do nothing at all.