My observation 1

Recently, all of Facebook's apps and services, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, etc., went offline due to internal technical problems. The consequences of the blackout were experienced by practically everyone in the developed world and ranged from trivial to severe. Many people who reach to Facebook or Instagram for the entertainment and time passing properties they provide, had to seek other options. Users who took advantage of the seemingly convenient ability to use Facebook to confirm their identity while signing in to other unrelated applications were deprived of access to them. Individuals or companies who use these services to run or promote their businesses were also heavily impacted. Most notably though, the setback caused communication between hundreds of millions of users to be suspended.

The recent issue goes to show how big of a monopoly Facebook actually has on social media and online communicators. Its active user base among all platforms is a staggering 3.51 billion, or about half of the world's population and 75% of total internet users. It demonstrates how dependant we, as a civilisation, are on a single provider of social media services. Nowadays people rarely take phone numbers from their colleagues, classmates, or even closer friends, so in an event like this, they are left stranded with no easy way to connect to others. We feel deprived of this ordinary thing we usually take for granted, which is actually just a product of a corporation, which we are in no way entitled to.