Social-Media
Instagram's outages were so severe that the app will automatically notify users when the service is unavailable.
Instagram is testing a new feature that will notify users when the site is experiencing significant technical issues. According to Instagram, the warning will show as a message in users' Activity Feeds when "people are confused and looking for answers." In other words, when the app's systems suffer a significant and sustained downturn, like they did last week.
Given the pandemonium that occurs when Instagram's parent firm Facebook's systems go down, it's a reasonable feature. When Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram go down, many users worry whether there's a problem with their connection, internet, or account.
A little notification telling users, “Don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s us” will probably save a lot of confusion in the future.
Instagram said it will test the function in the United States for the "next several months" and may push it out more broadly if it proves useful. It's easy to see comparable capabilities being added to Facebook's most important service, WhatsApp; a messaging program that serves as many people's principal means of digital communication.
Instagram also announced today the launch of a new feature called "Account Status," which will alert users if their material is reported as improper. “We’ll start by making it easier for people to know whether their account is at risk of being disabled,” said the company in a blog post.
“In the coming months, we plan to add more information to this tool, giving people a better sense of how their content is being distributed and recommended across different parts of Instagram.”
