Instagram is back after outage
Update: Instagram appears to be back up and running after being down for more than an hour.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Instagram is down.
Instagram looks to be back online after an outage hit the social media platform for more than an hour on Thursday afternoon.
Previously, checking it on the Instagram mobile app brought up a "couldn't refresh feed" message, while attempting to use the desktop website came up with a Facebook logo and a "Sorry, something went wrong" message.
"Earlier today, a technical issue caused some people to have trouble accessing their Instagram accounts," an Instagram spokesperson said. "We are now fully recovered and apologize for the inconvenience."
Down Detector recorded more than 38,000 reports as of 3 p.m. PT, which jumped to almost 57,000 reports as of 3:40 p.m. Its live outage map showed the issue was reported globally, across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Instagram acknowledged the outage via Twitter at 3:41 p.m. PT, saying it was working to fix the issue.
We're aware that some people are having trouble accessing their Instagram accounts. We're working quickly to fix the issue. #instagramdown
— Instagram (@instagram) June 13, 2019
During the outage, Instagram users flooded Twitter with memes, as hundreds used the #instagramdown hashtag.
"Instagrammers running towards Twitter to confirm #instagramdown!!" one tweet said.
Instagrammers running towards Twitter to confirm #instagramdown!! pic.twitter.com/MqnnqM8LzV
— Gaurav (@iamGrvJ) June 13, 2019
Others complained they didn't know what to do with their time.
Me figuring out what to do with my time now. #instagramdown pic.twitter.com/TlymRV7iUB
— Freya (@Freya140303) June 13, 2019
A lot of people used Twitter to check whether it was their Wi-Fi or Instagram itself that was the problem.
When you realize that Instagram is down and it's not just a problem with your WiFi #instagramdown pic.twitter.com/XwhLNgngBy
— ScaleLA (@ScaleLosAngeles) June 13, 2019
Unhappy users also complained of repetitive outages across Instagram.
How twitter reacts when Instagram goes down again #instagramdown pic.twitter.com/xArPht9uJe
— Leo (@leomo30) June 13, 2019
First published at 3:10 p.m. PT on June 13.
Updated at 3:52 p.m. PT: adds Twitter post from Instagram.
Updated at 4:26 p.m. PT: Instagram is back up and running.