Friday spelled bad news for selfie-takers, photographers, and foodies when Instagram unexpectedly shut down. Beginning around 11:45 a.m. PT, the popular social media site and app became unaccessible and unresponsive, eliminating the ability for users around the world to refresh the platform.
“We’re aware that some users are having trouble accessing their Instagram accounts,” the social media platform tweeted at 12:35 p.m. PT. “We know it’s frustrating, and we’re working quickly to fix the issue!”
The app and site have been restored for some as of 12:30 p.m. PT, but more than 30 minutes was enough time for social media frequenters to express their frustration at the outage on alternate platforms like Twitter.
Shortly after the app went dark, one user wrote, “Retweet if you’re here cause Instagram is down,” accompanied by a gif from “The Office” of Steve Carell’s Michael Scott yelling, “Everybody stay calm! Everybody stay calm!”
The hashtag #InstagramDown quickly formed a community of tweeters experiencing similar difficulties with the photo-sharing site. Some pointed out the irony of making the immediate switch from one platform to another.
“Me running to Twitter because Instagram is down and can’t survive without social media,” another captioned a gif of Paris Hilton running to her car and speeding away.
But many found solace in the fact that several appeared to be taking refuge on Twitter for the same reason, posting tweets about the unlikely social media camaraderie that emerged as a result of Instagram’s issues.
“Coming to Twitter to find out that we all have the same problem,” one user wrote. “Let me breathe a sigh of relief,” attached to a gif of Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, and the cast of “High School Musical” singing, “We’re all in this together!”
