Social media (e.g., Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram) has become a critical part of life for many people. Moreover, the use of social media influences mental and physical health. The importance of social media in daily life was evident during the global outage of social media in October 2021, which manifested as discomfort and displeasure at the incident that allegedly paused lives for 6 h. The current study aims to examine the feelings experienced during the outage from the Egyptian perspective. The study recruited 300 participants aged between 16 and 65 years via convenience sampling. An online survey that collected demographic information and presented one question about feelings experienced during the outage was conducted. The results indicated that the majority of the participants experienced negative feelings (e.g., boredom, loneness, and frustration), whereas other participants stated relief, relaxation, and comfort. Lastly, a few participants did not recognize the situation as a universal problem.
Citation: Nayera Mohamed Shousha and Leena Rowan Abdelgawad (2021) Down in Minutes, out for six Hours: A Brief report on feelings during the outage of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, British Journal of Psychology Research, Vol.9, No.2, pp. 38-44
Keywords: Egypt, Facebook, Instagram., Social media, WhatsApp, outage
