A widespread Instagram outage that affected thousands of users in the United States on Thursday evening appears to be largely resolved, according to data from the outage tracking website Downdetector.com. The platform, owned by Meta, experienced a significant spike in user-reported issues earlier in the day, but the number of incidents has since dropped dramatically, signaling a return to normalcy for most users.
At the peak of the outage, Downdetector recorded 19,431 reports of issues with Instagram, with users complaining about problems such as being unable to refresh their feeds, log in, or access certain features. However, by 8:34 p.m. ET, the number of reported incidents had plummeted to just 429, indicating that the technical issues were being addressed and resolved. Downdetector tracks outages by aggregating status reports from various sources, including user submissions, though it notes that the actual number of affected users may differ from its data.
The cause of the outage remains unclear, as Meta, Instagram’s parent company, has not yet issued an official statement or responded to requests for comment from Reuters. Outages like these are not uncommon for large tech platforms, which often face technical glitches due to server issues, software updates, or unexpected surges in user activity. However, given Instagram’s massive user base—over 1 billion people worldwide—even brief disruptions can have a significant impact.
Social media users took to other platforms, such as Twitter, to express their frustration during the outage, with many joking about the sudden inability to access their favorite app. Memes and humorous posts about the situation quickly went viral, highlighting the platform’s integral role in daily life for many.
While the outage was relatively short-lived, it serves as a reminder of the reliance users place on social media platforms and the challenges tech companies face in maintaining seamless service. For now, Instagram users can breathe a sigh of relief as the app appears to be back online and functioning normally. However, the incident may prompt Meta to investigate the root cause of the disruption to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
