Instagram Down: Users Confused as Social Media Site Doesn't Work

Update (5:30 pm PT): Instagram has announced that the app is back up via their Instagram Comms Twitter account: “Instagram is back! Sorry for the trouble – we had a brief outage earlier and resolved the issue that caused it. #instagramdown”

A Meta spokesperson also released a statement to Variety, confirming that, “Earlier today, a technical issue caused some people to have trouble accessing Instagram. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we’re sorry for any disruption this has caused.”

Earlier: Instagram has stopped working, as users worldwide took to other social media platforms on May 21 to complain that they can’t log in or use the photo and video sharing app.

“My Instagram,” “Y’all Instagram” and “My IG” were all quickly trending topics on Twitter after users realized the platform was down. Soon after, “#instagramdown” became the dominant trend.

Downdetector.com, a website that tracks app outages, shows that user reports of Instagram outages started spiking at 3:09 pm PT and have risen steadily since.

Twitter also became flooded with pop culture memes about users’ fear of missing out.

Instagram’s last major outage was on Sept. 22.

Instagram parent company Meta recently announced a rollout of their “Meta Verified” subscription service, which gives paid users of Instagram and Facebook a blue check-mark.

“Good morning and new product announcement: this week we’re starting to roll out Meta Verified — a subscription service that lets you verify your account with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support,” Meta chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote while announcing the new program. “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services. Meta Verified starts at $11.99 / month on web or $14.99 / month on iOS. We’ll be rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week and more countries soon.”