Facebook, Instagram outage knocks out local businesses too
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- The Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp outage that lasted for more than five hours Monday, affected more than people's ability to communicate with friends and enjoy social media.
A few local businesses depend on the platform to advertise their products or post their restaurant hours.
It's particularly tough on food truck owners, who may move their trucks from one location to another every day and use the social platform to get the word out.
"I was kind of freaking out, wondering how I was going to talk to my audience and let them know where I was going to be this week," Puff Puffette Pass owner Cooper Watts said. "I do my giveaways and my promotion online too.
Watts runs his ice cream-waffle shop in Pueblo through Facebook and Instagram. He estimates 50% of his customers find him on social media.
He had to scramble to get the word out. He made a TikTok and Twitter account in the early morning hours
"Typically Monday is the day I get my social media going. I do a giveaway post to really generate some excitement for the week. Today, I kind of had a moment of panic, I mean I opened up my phone and was like what is wrong with my phone?"
After Monday's lengthy outage he says he's now re-examining how he'll do his business in the future. He says he will now look into different advertising mediums in the coming months.
For the Sacred Bean, a mobile cafe, the owners said they got lucky. While they're usually open, Monday they were closed.
"The outage didn’t affect us today, but definitely would have impacted our business in a major way if it had been long term," said Vicy Stone, the co-owner of the Sacred Bean. "We do have a pretty good following and buzz around town, so I think even if people were to see us parked somewhere they would stop for sure, but sales would absolutely deplete without our online platforms!"
For more information on Puff Puffette Pass, click here.
For more information on the Sacred Bean, click here.
