Facebook and Instagram are two of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with billions of users logging on every day to connect with friends, share photos and videos, and stay updated on news and events. However, on October 4th, 2021, both Facebook and Instagram experienced a major outage that left users unable to access their accounts or use the platforms. This unexpected disruption caused panic and frustration among users worldwide, as they were suddenly cut off from their virtual communities. In this article, we will explore what happened during the outage and what we know so far.

The Outage

The outage began around 11:40 am ET on Monday morning, affecting not only Facebook and Instagram but also other apps owned by Facebook such as WhatsApp and Messenger. Users reported being unable to log in or access any features on the platforms. The outage was widespread, with reports coming in from all over the world including the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Facebook quickly acknowledged the issue on Twitter, stating that they were aware of the problem and working to resolve it as soon as possible. However, hours went by without any updates or progress being made. This led to speculation among users about what could have caused such a massive outage.

Possible Causes

As with any major technical issue, there were many theories floating around about what could have caused Facebook and Instagram to go down. Some speculated that it was a cyberattack or a hack by malicious actors trying to disrupt these popular platforms. Others suggested that it could be an internal issue within Facebooks servers or systems.

However, according to a statement from Facebooks Vice President of Infrastructure Engineering Santosh Janardhanan, the outage was caused by a configuration change on their backbone routers. This change resulted in a cascading effect that took down all of their services globally.

Impact on Users

The outage had a significant impact on users who rely heavily on these platforms for communication and information. Many businesses and organizations use Facebook and Instagram as their primary means of reaching customers and promoting their products or services. With the platforms down, they were unable to connect with their audience or conduct any business.

Individual users also felt the effects of the outage, as they were cut off from their virtual communities and unable to share updates or communicate with friends and family. This was especially challenging for those who live far away from loved ones or rely on these platforms for social support.

Response from Facebook

As the outage continued for several hours, Facebook faced mounting pressure from users and the media to provide updates and resolve the issue. Finally, after nearly six hours, Facebook announced that they had fixed the problem and services were gradually being restored.

In a statement released on Twitter, Facebook apologized for the inconvenience caused by the outage and assured users that they were working to prevent similar issues in the future. They also clarified that there was no evidence of a cyberattack or any user data being compromised during the outage.

What We Know So Far

As of now, both Facebook and Instagram are back up and running, but there are still many unanswered questions about what exactly happened during the outage. While Facebook has provided some explanation, many experts are still analyzing the situation to understand how a simple configuration change could have caused such a widespread disruption.

The outage also raised concerns about our reliance on social media platforms for communication and information sharing. It highlighted how vulnerable we can be when these platforms go down unexpectedly, leaving us disconnected from our virtual communities.

Hong Kong Version:

Facebook同Instagram是全球最受歡迎的社交媒體平台之一，每天有數十億用戶登錄，與朋友聯繫、分享照片和視頻，以及了解最新的新聞和事件。然而，2021年10月4日，Facebook和Instagram都遭遇了一次重大的故障，使用戶無法訪問他們的帳戶或使用這些平台。這次意外的中斷引起了全球用戶的恐慌和挫折，因為他們突然與他們的虛擬社區斷開了聯繫。在本文中，我們將探討故障期間發生了什麼以及我們目前所知道的情況。

故障

故障始於美國東部時間上午11:40左右，影響到不僅僅是Facebook和Instagram，還包括Facebook旗下的其他應用程序，如WhatsApp和Messenger。用戶報告說無法登錄或訪問平台上的任何功能。這次故障覆蓋範圍廣泛，來自世界各地包括美國、歐洲、亞洲和澳大利亞的報告紛紛湧入。

Facebook迅速在Twitter上承認了問題，表示他們已經意識到問題並正在盡快解決。然而，幾個小時過去了仍然沒有任何更新或進展。這導致用戶猜測可能是什麼原因導致如此大規模的故障。

可能的原因

與任何重大技術問題一樣，有許多理論關於是什麼原因導致Facebook和Instagram發生故障。有人推測這可能是惡意行為者發動的網絡攻擊或黑客入侵，試圖破壞這些受歡迎的平台。其他人則認為可能是Facebook服務器或系統內部出現了問題。

然而，根據Facebook基礎架構工程副總裁Santosh Janardhanan的聲明，故障是由於他們背景路由器上的配置更改引起的。這次更改導致了一系列連鎖反應，使得他們全球所有服務都癱瘓了。

用戶影響

故障對那些極度依賴這些平台進行溝通和信息分享的用戶產生了重大影響。許多企業和組織使用Facebook和Instagram作為與客戶聯繫和推廣產品或服務的主要手段。隨著平台癱瘓，他們無法與受眾聯繫或進行任何業務。

個人用戶也感受到了故障的影響，因為他們與虛擬社區斷開聯繫，無法分享更新或與朋友和家人溝通。對於那些與親人住在遠方或依賴這些平台獲得社會支持的人來說，這尤其具有挑戰性。

Facebook的回應

隨著故障持續了幾個小時，Facebook面臨著來自用戶和媒體的壓力，要求提供更新並解決問題。最終，在近六個小時後，Facebook宣布已解決問題並正在逐步恢復服務。

在Twitter上發布的一份聲明中，Facebook就故障造成的不便表示道歉，並保證他們正在努力防止未來出現類似問題。他們還澄清說，在故障期間沒有證據表明遭受了網絡攻擊或任何用戶數據被破壞。

我們目前所知道的情況

截至目前，Facebook和Instagram都已恢復運行，但仍有許多未解之謎關於故障期間到底發生了什