WHAT THE INSTAGRAM BLACKOUT TAUGHT ME
Picture this: The day is Wednesday, March 13th, 2019. I am getting ready for the Draper James x M.Gemi Collection Launch. I grab my photo for Instagram and prep my stories to celebrate and share this fabulous limited line.
I open up my Instagram only to be greeted by a “cannot load” message - no matter how many times I hit refresh. I go to my Insta stories and try uploading - no dice. I then pull up my feed and try uploading a photo - zip, zilch, nada.
“Baaabe!” I call out to Freddie, “Can I see your phone?” I grab his iPhone and immediately pull up the app. His was doing the same thing! “Hmmm,” I thought to myself. “Maybe it’s our service? I’ll try back in twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes passed, and I eagerly pull up Instagram again - STILL DOWN. I then pull up Google and type in “Is Instagram down?” and numerous articles popped up explaining that Facebook’s ‘Family of Apps’ was working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
It was at that moment I realized that all of the traffic from usual Instagram & Facebook users had migrated to Twitter. #Instagramdown began trending, and the tweets and reactions were priceless!
I’ve got to admit, life without social media was strange, kind of uncomfortable & oddly refreshing. I am wildly active with social media, and it has become a big part of my life. I felt less connected with the world & it was a crazy realization of how much our community has evolved connection wise, due to social media.
Yesterday, Freddie & I had a packed schedule and we were forced to ::GASP:: live in the moment. No capturing daily activities, no catching up on what loved ones were doing, and no sharing things we enjoyed. We even pushed the release of our podcast because of the craziness and confusion!
The Great Instagram/Facebook Blackout of 2019 was a friendly reminder to slow down, enjoy what is around us and to keep the face to face human interaction alive! Social media is indeed the campfire in which we tell stories around, but sometimes it isn’t so bad to unplug and tell stories to those right in front of us.
What did you think of the big blackout? Let me know below!
Now some fun Draper James x M.Gemi photos that I didn’t get to share yesterday - Lol!
