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For most of the day Monday (October 4), Facebook and its network of social media platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, were out. No posts, no comments, no likes. The outages brought users to Twitter to share their take on the situation, specifically on how online hate and other negative content has become commonplace in the shared online space. One social media platform, BlackPlanet.com, also reminded people they're still around.
The outages began early Monday morning and came hours after a whistleblower, Frances Haugen, went on 60 Minutes, exposing the company's apparent failure to remove majority of the content that promoted violence and hate. The interview segment came amid weeks of mounting issues for the company, which has been the subject of several Senate hearings, from the Capitol Riot in January, to the 2020 election, and the impact the platform has on teens. Many said the time for accountability was already here.
And it's not just Facebook and Instagram. Even before the outage, Black TikTok creators spoke out against the platform for deleting and flagging their content, and demonstrating the racism they face in the platform's algorithm.
While the outage lasted most of the day, one of the original social media websites took the opportunity to let people know they're still around.
BlackPlanet.com was first launched in September of 1999. It's platform includes individual profiles, job postings, match-making, and more. The site resurfaced in popularity in 2019 when Solange used it as part of the rollout for fourth studio album, When I Get Home.
Some users also announced they were headed back over to BlackPlanet in the midst of the outages.
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