Facebook and Instagram were down for about three hours this morning, with users complaining they were unable to connect to the social media platforms, via both the desktop and mobile applications.
While Facebook was not immediately available for comment, it is understood the outage affected users worldwide, although seemingly for different time spans. Facebook-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp did not suffer any downtime.
Shortly after the outage began, users took to another online platform, Twitter, largely to poke fun at the down time - and to post comments and share photos and memes. Within a short period of time #Facebookdown, Facebook and Instagram topped Twitter's trend list.
The Facebook outage reportedly started at around 6am this morning and was resolved just after 9am.
Facebook has since issued a statement: "Earlier this morning, many people had trouble accessing Facebook and Instagram. This was not the result of a third-party attack but instead occurred after we introduced a change that affected our configuration systems. We moved quickly to fix the problem, and both services are back to 100% for everyone."
Data-friendly app
Meanwhile, Facebook has quietly started testing a faster, more data-conservative version of its mobile app that is apparently geared specifically for low-end Android devices and targets emerging markets.
The app, Facebook Lite, is dated 20 January in the Google Play Store, where it has so far garnered a respectable 4.6 star rating from the 794 reviewers (as of this morning) who have tried it out.
According to TechCrunch, the app was launched over the weekend in a handful of African and Asian countries, including SA, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
It is understood Facebook is testing the watered-down app version with a view to further expansions.
Facebook Lite is just 252Kb in size and was designed for 2G networks and areas with limited network connectivity. In its Play Store rundown of Facebook Lite, the company says it is "fast to install, quick to load and efficient with data".
App users can message friends and have group conversations and share updates and photos. The app also includes push notifications and camera integration. In the app permissions list, Facebook alludes to future updates, with added functionality. "Updates to Facebook Lite may automatically add additional capabilities within each group."
This is not the first time the company has introduced a diluted mobile app. In 2009, Facebook introduced a similar simplified version of its mobile Web site.
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