Instagram tests a feature that will soon alert users about in-app outages

New Delhi: Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook, announced on Monday that it is testing a feature that will alert users of outages or technical issues directly on the photo-sharing app, only days after two disruptions crippled the social media giant's services last week. 

Instagram announced in a blog post that the test will take place in the United States for a few months. On October 4, the company's 3.5 billion users were unable to access its social media and messaging services, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, due to a six-hour outage.

According to user reports on the Web monitoring group Downdetector, several Instagram users experienced issues earlier on Monday. The company also intends to launch a feature that will make it easier for users to determine whether their account is at risk of being disabled.

Following the disruptions, the social media giant has been the subject of memes and jokes on Twitter. It is also dealing with former employee turned whistleblower Frances Haugen's claim that the firm regularly prioritised profit over cracking down on hate speech and misinformation. 

Haugen, who provided the documents that underpinned a Wall Street Journal investigation and a Senate hearing on Instagram’s harm to teen girls, has agreed to meet with Facebook’s oversight board in the coming weeks to brief them about what she learned while working at the company.