For those of you who many not know – I live a life with many hats. Some days it’s the #GeekyGirl and #DecorBoss! Today, Facebook has caused disarray! Why? People are without access to their favorite social media accounts – Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, and even Instagram! I have even heard stories of some people having no access to their friends and family!

Why are your Facebook and Instagram accounts not working or down?

If your Facebook and Instagram accounts are down, let me help you understand why and how. First… Facebook went to Twitter to announce that they are working on the issue. While they report that the problem is not a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack. In a DDoS attack, the incoming traffic flooding the victim, in the case of Facebook from many different sources. In a tweet at 3:13EST today, Facebook denied the DDoS attack stating, “We’re focused on working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, but can confirm that the issue is not related to a DDoS attack. You may have heard this referred to as a “cyber attack”. It’s all digital and it’s all real, no matter what Facebook tells us. Now, it’s important for you to understand why it’s occurring to multiple social media sites.

What other social media sites does Facebook own?

Aside from Facebook, Facebook also owns these other social media sites:
Instagram – acquired in April 2012 for a small $1 BILLION dollars – the original founders just departed in September 2018 after a falling out with Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

1. WhatsApp – acquired in February 2014 for $19 BILLION dollars, WhatsApp is a common business communications social app that I use daily in product development for our Tasker Agency and PuTTin’ OuT clients. We use WhatsApp to communicate with vendors and quality control professionals worldwide.
2. OculusVR – is a virtual reality hardware company that is unlikely to be affected by the recent cyber attack.
3. FriendFeed – this company was a social content aggregator that was dissolved by Facebook in April 2015.
4. LiveRail – acquired by Facebook in July 2014, LiveRail helps Facebook, A+E Networks, Gannett, and Dailymotion make money from their videos by connecting them to advertisers via an automated bidding process.
   Now, is the BIG PICTURE COMING INTO PLAY?

What to do if your Facebook account goes down?

So what can you do to ensure you’re not so reliant on Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media site?
1. Share your contact information with your friends – NOW!
2. Download a backup copy of your Facebook data if and when you get back in.
3. Don’t ASS-u-ME you will “see it on Facebook”. Subscribe to blogs and websites that you like to ensure Facebook is NOT in control of your life, contacts, or photos. Speaking of photos…
4. Do NOT use Facebook as your photo backup. No way! Back photos up in more than one place. Mine are backed up on Adobe Lightroom, Dropbox, and my own devices and additionally on hard drives.

What’s next for Facebook?

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P.S. This Rocks!

Since you may need a watch, read, or inspiration tonight, enjoy some of our latest travel, art, & design posts on P.S. This Rocks and watch #DecorBoss, my exclusive interior designer and creative interviews sponsored by Decorating Den Interiors.