Instagram down today? Thousands say they can’t reply to friends

Instagram users in several parts of the world reported problems using the app on Wednesday morning, with many saying they could not send or reply to messages. Data from Downdetector.com showed that more than 10,000 users flagged issues with the platform, most of them in the United States. In India, about 250 users reported similar problems. The Meta-owned company has not confirmed the outage so far.

With the app acting up, many users turned to other platforms to check if the problem was widespread. “Is Instagram down? I can’t reply to my friend,” a user posted on Elon Musk-owned microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter).

Instagram Downdetector

Downdetector.com said the first signs of trouble appeared around 7:40 am IST on March 11. The site showed a sudden rise in complaints as users reported problems across different features of the app.


Also Read: Archana Puran Singh to stop YouTube channel despite 1 million subscribers and lakhs in earnings; here’s why

About 71% of users said they had trouble accessing the app. Another 20% reported server connection issues, while around 5% said their Instagram feed or timeline was not loading.

The outage map on Downdetector indicated that several cities in the United States were affected. Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Washington, and New York were among the locations where users reported problems.

At the time of writing, the monitoring website had logged more than 4,700 complaints. Many users said the issue mainly affected Instagram’s direct messaging feature, making it difficult to contact others through DMs.

The data also showed that most complaints related to the app itself. Some users also reported issues with server connections and publishing posts.

Instagram allows users to interact with posts by liking, commenting, and sharing them. But many people rely heavily on the direct messaging feature for private conversations, which appeared to be the most affected during the disruption.

Instagram DMs not working

As the issue spread, users began sharing their reactions online. Some expressed frustration while others treated the situation lightly.

One person remarked “instagram down I REPEAT INSTAGRAM DOWN.” Another added “are instagram dms down or... am i cooked.” Yet another asked “is instagram down rn??? dms arent working for me is it just me.”

Several users also posted their comments on the Downdetector page itself.

One asked “are the messages delayed to show???”. Another wrote “also just dms not working for me…”. Many said the disruption cut them off in the middle of conversations. “Instagram went down in the middle of 3 different conversations,” one complained. Another noted “can't reply to messages.”

Some users even joked about the situation. “Instagram went down when my friend starting questioning me, THANK GOD,” one person said.

Instagram outage linked to Iran action? Fact-check

As the problem continued, some posts on social media tried to connect the outage to the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran. A few users claimed Iran was “targeting enemy technological infrastructure” and suggested that this might explain the disruption.

One user wrote “THIS IS WHY INSTAGRAM IS DOWN I KNEW IT.”

However, these claims remain unverified, and there is no official information linking the outage to any such event.

The Mark Zuckerberg-owned platform has not issued any statement about the problem yet.

Meanwhile, many users have started responding to Instagram’s posts on its X account, hoping to draw attention to the issue. “My Instagram is acting up saying failed to load earlier messages but nothing is wrong with my internet please fix yalls app,” one user wrote.