Instagram will make outage alerts part of its user experience after it was hit by two global blackouts last week.
One week after server shutdowns hit Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the photo sharing app – which is owned by Facebook – has announced an update that will make any future tech hiccups easier to spot and stay on top of.
Instagram said this week it is testing a new feature that would alert users at the top of their Activity Feeds when the platform is going through some sort of outage, so that no-one is left in the dark when it comes to server errors.
The feature will also reportedly let users know when Instagram expects these issues to be resolved.
The company said: “Through conversations with our community and extensive research, we know how confusing it can be when temporary issues happen on Instagram.
“When they impact engagement or distribution, we also know that it can lead people to think that the problems are unique to them, based on what they post. That lack of clarity can be frustrating, which is why we want it to be easier to understand what’s going on, directly from us.”
The feature is currently being tested in the US, and Instagram says it “won’t send a notification every single time there is an outage,” but will instead let people know what’s going on if the company notices that “people are confused and looking for answers”.
The company also said that “if it makes sense to,” then it will roll the feature out to more people and more countries.
