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What to do when Facebook crashes?

It’s just another weekday afternoon. You’re in your final hour of the workday and pop onto Facebook for a quick scroll.

“Session expired”

Be honest. Your immediate reaction was to panic, message your entire WhatsApp contact list stating that you may have been hacked, and try to change your password.

As did the rest of the world when Meta’s Facebook and Instagram went down earlier this year.

Despite the temporary glitch, the social media powerhouses were back up and running shortly after the issue. This allowed thousands across the globe – including social media marketers and managers – to breathe a sigh of relief.

Crisis averted, we’re here to give you tips on what to do when a social media platform crashes.

5 tips for when social media crashes

  1. First things first, don’t panic.

  2. Then, check your internet connection.

  3. If it’s not your internet connection, find the source of the problem. Is the entire social network down, or is it a problem with your computer, Facebook app, or particular Facebook account? You can check the Meta Status and Outages page, search for X (formerly known as Twitter) for announcements or updates, or use another third-party ‘status checker’ website.

  4. If you’re a social media expert, communicate with your clients once you’ve identified the problem. If no one else has complained about the issue, chances are the problem is only on your end. You can then try using a different browser, clear your cache and cookies, or close and reopen the app.
     
  5. Finally, and most importantly, the best thing to do when a social media platform crashes is to wait. Wait for announcements, for those in charge to work on the issue, or for the problem to sort itself out. Just wait.

The most recent incident was addressed in a matter of minutes; however, sometimes, things can take longer to fix. This could mean a massive disaster for social media marketers or managers, but it doesn’t have to.

What else can you do when social media crashes?

1. Drives organic traffic

There are other options when a platform like Facebook is down. 

  1. Refocus your marketing strategies or campaigns on other things like blogging, email marketing or optimizing your site for SEO.

  2. Join in on what people are saying about the problem or repurpose old content that may relate to what happened.

  3. Finally, find a way to promote yourself in a unique way. Take Rose Digital, for example. So many thought they were hacked after the Meta crash. They weren’t, but check out these ‘6 Easy steps to keep your social media accounts secure’ if you want a refresher

At the end of the day, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. And it certainly won’t be the last. It’s important to keep in mind that it’s not the end of the world. There are things you can do to ride out the storm, and other marketing options youan use while things get sorted.  

If you are having trouble with your social media accounts, get in touch with us. Most errors and glitches can be fixed easily, and if your accounts need more professional help we can advise the next steps.