Three ways that social media managers overcame the October 4th, 2021 Facebook server shutdown
Two weeks ago, I began a new job position as a social media specialist at a corporate health services company. It has felt like a dream job so far, the responsibilities and tasks are challenging sometimes but worth it. On October 4th, I was building a content calendar for this month on Instagram. Something seemed wrong but things were about to get more unusual as the hours passed by. My experience was how most social media specialists and coordinators felt trying to sign in to Facebook and Instagram that day. Now, what are the repercussions of 8 hours of two social media channels not working? Always have a backup plan
As marketers communicate and give a voice to the brand, social media managers have the responsibility to share information and content on social media channels. When Facebook and Instagram went down for 9 hours backup plans were needed to be utilized to continue the flow of information. Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn were the main social media channels that are not associated with Facebook that were used in lieu of the content planned for Instagram and Facebook. Add Twitter to your social media plans
Twitter was the prime social media channel when Facebook and Instagram were not working on October 4th. The reason was it was the perfect place that everyone to communicate their frustration collectively. Audiences in many industries around the world experienced feeling angry and confused as to what was occurring. Think outside the box As the king and queen of social media, Facebook and Instagram are widely popular and used throughout the world. According to Statista, Facebook has 2.89 billion worldwide users. As most communications and marketers questioned what if Facebook didn’t come back? Would our information be stolen? How would we build that engagement from scratch? These were some of the questions social media managers were pondering during this crisis. Just as the public relations department reports a crisis and a plan to resolve it. Social media managers have a duty to continue communicating pertinent info to their target audiences. The best way to find alternatives and solutions is to think out of the box.
Most retail businesses used humor and sarcasm to calm down their audiences and entertain the very stressful situation at hand. Others created memes and content surrounding the incident to create a conversation about social media and how we are dependent on it.
Luckily, Facebook and Instagram reappeared at 7 pm EST. Social media managers everywhere lead a big sigh in sync. Social media was restored back to its normalcy and users were seeking content and social media calendar software was posting planned social content. The world felt a bit more balanced again and communications departments were the heroes of the story. Happily ever after in the world of social media
