Facebook Dies, Twitter Freaks Out, and We Realize Our Social Media Dependence
For about 15 minutes this afternoon the Internet freaked out. Facebook had died.
It was like ripping a cigarette out of a chain smoker's mouth. Like depriving a coffee aficionado of their morning joe for a year. It proved that--no particular surprise, really--we, as a society, are pretty well addicted to social media.
It's not a bad thing, but moments such as this do truly show how important these networks have become.
Naturally, while Facebook was down, users turned directly to Twitter. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to hear Twitter broke traffic records between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m. today.
There were lots of jokes about Zuckerberg holding Facebook hostage in exchange for promises not to watch the impending Facebook movie, The Social Network. There were funny little Farmville quips. And naturally, plenty of people expressed their horror at having to actually be outside, talking to people in real life.
Thankfully, for all of us addicts, Facebook is now back online. First reports suggest it was an "unknown technical fault" but more details will no doubt emerge soon.
Update: Just kidding, Facebook is down again. See for yourself.
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