At approximately 9.20 am in Zimbabwe, WhatsApp went down. The cause of the outage is still yet to be announced but with VPNs failing to connect it seems that it’s a WhatsApp failing to connect to the server. The outage seems to be global and a Meta spokesperson managed to give Reuters a statement that reads:
We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible
Reuters
As per usual, the streets of Twitter were there to pick up after the outage with the usual flock of memes.
Are outages becoming too frequent?
Isn’t it funny that in October of 2021, just a year ago, Meta faced another outage. It lasted 6 hours and affected WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, properties that are run by the group. Whatever issues they are facing seem to be cyclic which does not inspire confidence in businesses using these platforms as gateways to consumers.
It’s a bit of a cyclic pattern now and the effects are felt everywhere, more so in places like Zimbabwe where WhatsApp goes beyond being a social media platform and a business tool but also an affordable way of keeping up to date on news. WhatsApp is the internet for a majority of Zimbabweans. In fact, muscle memory wants me to share this article on WhatsApp but we all know why that is not possible.
What’s your take?