We can mark October 4th as a day in the books – when social media caused a complete frenzy amongst businesses, influencers and social media experts. Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp platforms crashed for, what seemed to be, the longest few hours.
What’s not surprising is Instagram’s announcement just a few days later. The platform that continues to innovate has done it again! Instagram is testing a new feature in the United States that will alert app users when the platform is experiencing technical difficulties.
Pre-Alert System, Instagram users had to scour the internet for breadcrumbs of clues pertaining to the platform’s tech issues. Twitter has also served as a go-to resource for social media and company updates. Many users flocked to twitter during the shutdown in hopes of finding connection and avoiding being left in the dark. And, perhaps caused Twitter to see the most activity they have had in the past few years, as they welcomed Instagram & Facebook lovers with a tweet:
You can’t help but wonder if Instagram’s new alert system came as a direct response to the traffic that flooded their fellow social media competitor. If Facebook, Whatsapp or Instagram had a space for their users to be updated with platform malfunctions, would Twitter have seen such a large uptick in traffic?
Regardless, Instagram will be testing this feature “for the next few months” with hopes to roll it out more widely in the future. The notification will ease users minds as they panic wondering if their service is flaky, or if something is wrong with their account.
As time goes on, Instagram continues to make changes to their platform that help to keep users engaged, in the loop and feeling connected with other profiles. We anticipate that Whatsapp and Facebook will have similar notifications in the future, as they both act as modes of communication for those around the World.
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