insiderblmSocial media users have been flocking to Twitter in reaction to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp outages, which have lasted several hours.
The three services, all owned by Facebook, could not be accessed via the web or smartphone apps.
Twitter and Reddit were among several tech companies poking fun at their rivals.
The affected services had to take to Twitter themselves, as fun and serious messages burgeoned.
Hi and happy Monday 😵💫— Instagram (@instagram) October 4, 2021
Major names from the world of entertainment, including Dolly Parton, have been getting in on the fun.
Everyone showing up to @Twitter today while @Facebook @instagram @WhatsApp are down like… — Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) October 4, 2021
Others have been joking about seeing dormant Twitter accounts bursting into action again.
People you went to school with logging in to their dormant Twitter account now that Instagrams down. — Michael Fry (@BigDirtyFry) October 4, 2021
But Twitter may have started to smirk at its rivals prematurely, as many of its users started experiencing problems, with the Downdetector site showing a peak of outage reports at about 19:30 GMT.
When Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook are down and Twitter starts glitching too: — B/R Football (@brfootball) October 4, 2021
Some, including whistle-blower Edward Snowden, have been using the outage to make a more serious point.
Facebook-owned Whatsapp being down is a reminder that you and your friends should probably be using a more private, non-profit alternative like @Signalapp anyway (or another open-source app of your choice).
It’s just as free, and takes like 30 seconds to switch.#facebookdown— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 4, 2021
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
And others have been tweeting about how the outage is a good thing.
Retweet if you think it is a good thing for society that Facebook is down.— David Weissman (@davidmweissman) October 4, 2021
Meanwhile, the memes have been coming thick and fast.
Whatsapp Facebook and Instagram #serverdown
Meanwhile Twitter 😂 — Prashant (@prashantgwari) October 4, 2021
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