CAN TECH GIANTS STILL BE TRUSTED?

The past week has shown the world the amount of effect the world’s tech giants have got over individuals and their businesses. It showed the world the deeper connections that social media has got with its billions of users all over the world. Billions of users of the Tech giant, Facebook which also extends to other social media platforms owned by the company the likes of Instagram, and Whatsapp experienced one of the longest social media blackouts in years. The Tech giant company based at Menlo Park in the state of California, United States has said the outage was caused by a "Configuration" change, which typically refers to adjustment in the companies underlying technical infrastructure.

The worrisome question still remains unanswered as many individuals and businesses, especially SMEs (Small and medium enterprises) were handicapped for hours. This means during the outage transactions couldn’t go through, negotiations couldn't hold except through other apps.

Satpathy is the founder and CEO of Best Power Equipments India, a company that supplies backup power to hospitals, offices, restaurants, and factories. He depends on the Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp to communicate with his employees to ensure that his power equipment continues to function.

“If there is a problem at any site we have to rush there immediately,” Satpathy says. He gets status updates from managers at his power centers every half hour via WhatsApp. Satpathy said he could not afford to wait out the blackout, and he transferred all communications between Best Power executives to messaging service Telegram. He says he got lucky; his company did not experience problems with power stations during the blackout, but the experience exposed just how reliant his company is on the American social media giant.

Creators all over the platforms also lamented as feeds were quiet for 3.5billion-plus people as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all went offline for roughly six hours. The total number of people affected by the outage was likely far higher, as millions depend on Facebook’s authorization code to access various sites and services. Taking a quick shift from the businesses and creator's angle of the outage effects, It was not a great day to be a part of the infrastructure team at Facebook. It was an inconvenience to everyday users who rely on their products to communicate with friends and family.

Can we still trust our social media providers for a safe, smooth uninterrupted supply? Loses can't be reclaimed for affected individuals and businesses hence, must have to bear their losses and find a way to augment whatever amount of money went with the outage.

Millions of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp users found their way to Twitter, Telegram, and other social media platforms. I must say the world is lucky to have other social media platforms up and running. Even with the switch of apps and platforms the impact of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp was felt.

As of the 9th of October, 2021, numerous users of Facebook have complained about the inability to use some of the features the app has to offer.

Has seen today, "@Facebook PLEASE HELP! I still can't do anything! I need your help and I'm running out of time as I only have 30 days but I can't speak to anyone on the site & can't get past this screen! Been ages already and I can't do shit as I can't get anywhere on the site due to this!"

"If anyone working at Facebook, I’m getting very frustrated with your notifications coming to me in French, not English. I have made the English language of choice multiple times. Tried to sign on again, and never receive code in text! Come on, man. A little help here!"

The question still stands, can tech giants still be trusted?