jfid – Today, Thursday, December 21, 2023, social media users worldwide are facing a significant access disruption.
Several popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp, are either inaccessible or experiencing delays in sending and receiving messages.
This disruption has persisted for several hours, triggering panic and confusion among users.
Causes of Social Media Disruption
There is no official statement from relevant parties regarding the cause of today’s social media disruption.
However, some sources claim that the disruption is due to a cyberattack carried out by an unidentified hacking group. The attack is suspected to aim at disrupting communication and information amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The cyberattack is believed to employ the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) method, a technique that sends numerous access requests to a website or server, causing an overload and rendering it unable to handle legitimate requests. Consequently, the website or server becomes slow or entirely inaccessible.
Impact of Social Media Disruption
Today’s social media disruption has a significant impact on users, especially those who rely on social media for communication, work, learning, or seeking information.
Some impacts felt by users include:
- Difficulty communicating with family, friends, colleagues, or customers through social media. This can disrupt coordination, collaboration, or ongoing transactions.
- Loss of access to important or current information, such as news, data, or education, presented through social media. This can lead to ignorance, misunderstandings, or errors in decision-making.
- Increased anxiety, stress, or frustration due to the inability to use social media according to habit or necessity. This can affect the mental and emotional health of users.
- Emergence of speculation, rumors, or hoaxes related to social media disruption. This can cause confusion, panic, or conflict among users.
Dealing with Social Media Disruption
To address today’s Social Media X disruption, users can take the following steps:
- Use alternative communication or information media that are still accessible, such as telephone, SMS, email, or official websites from reliable sources.
- Maintain calm and patience in dealing with social media disruption. There’s no need to panic or get angry, as this will not help resolve the issue.
- Wait until the social media disruption is resolved and returns to normal. Usually, relevant parties will attempt to fix the problem and restore social media services as quickly as possible.
- Avoid spreading or believing unclear or unverified information about social media disruption. Always fact-check and verify information sources before sharing or taking action based on such information.
