When Facebook Messages Fail

Share

I’m sitting here trying to stay calm. I’m trying to stay calm as minutes pass by and I have no access to my Facebook messages from neither my laptop, nor my phone, nor my iPad. I cannot access my Facebook messages that contain important information. Just as the feature collapsed for me, I was receiving instructions about a freelance article that I’m about to write. I can no longer see those instructions. I also left three other people hanging in the middle of “conversations,” a series of rapid messages that we were sending back and forth to each other. Deep breaths.

I’m not one who usually complains about Facebook. It’s a free service and they do their best. Based upon a post that I put up on my personal Facebook page about this issue, I know that I’m not alone and that others are experiencing the same thing. I’m sure that Facebook has people who are working on this problem as I type this. Ohhhh, work a little faster, please. While they work, I shall learn.

Here is what this situation is teaching me:

• If a contact is important, make sure that you have his or her email address.
• Don’t rely on Facebook as a sole method of communication.
• Taking deep breaths while counting to 10 and imagining a peaceful scene is a useful skill. I will learn how to do that.
• Facebook isn’t bullet-proof. I actually knew this one already but today reinforces it.
• I need to keep a diversified to-do list that never relies on just one social network.
• I should copy and paste instructions or important information, as they arrive in messages, into a document or into another safe place. Always have a backup.
• Keep calm and carry on.

I shall carry on now. I’ll do my best and start writing the article that I need to write. When my messages come back, I’ll make tweaks according to the specifications that I can’t see at this moment and I’ll apologize for leaving people hanging mid-conversation.

Has Facebook ever left you in a difficult spot? What was the issue? Did it affect your business? Were you able to stay calm?

Tagged as: Facebook, socialmedia