For most of the morning and now most of the afternoon, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have been down for thousands of users today, all over the world, including me. 

Facebook Instagram Down

I woke up this morning to my usual morning routine, which usually includes checking my social media accounts, posting, and sharing online. While drinking my morning coffee, I was shocked to find that I could not access my social media accounts, fearing my accounts were deleted or hacked somehow first, then thinking my WiFi service was not working.  I later realized I was not the only one, and news outlets were reporting a widespread outage.

I must confess at the beginning I kept checking my phone regularly to see if the social media networks were up and running again. But I wouldn’t say I liked the feeling. It was like something important was missing. Like I was missing something, and I was left out. Not a good feeling.

Thinking about how often I kept checking to see if things were up again, I also realized how much of my time went to checking and updating my social media accounts every day. How many hours do I spend on social media? Unfortunately, the answer is way too many.

With Instagram and Facebook down today, I was suddenly FREE! I realize I have a lot more time in my day than I usually think.

By putting my phone down and not going on social media, I could finish way more things off my to-do list this morning. I went for a longer than usual walk with my dog and didn’t feel guilty that I was missing on working or posting sponsored content on the apps. It felt liberating!

Taking breaks off of social media is very healthy. Focusing on real-life, the things you have in front of you, instead of the virtual world, can feel good!!

I have to say my day so far has been fulfilling, and after my initial shock and feeling of loss, I see getting over the addictive feeling of checking and posting on social all the time can be very rewarding.

I am not sure when Facebook and Instagram will be online once again, but I am enjoying the time away for now.

I am taking this as a social media detox.

See you all on social once everything is running again. Bye for now!