The world comes to a standstill as WhatsApp crashes

On Friday 3 November 2017, instant messaging app, WhatsApp, experienced some unscheduled downtime in South Africa as well as various other countries across the world.

The interruption occurred at around 10 am CAT and a number of users took to various social media platforms to express their frustrations. Many others took to independent outage reporting website, Downdetector, where over 500 complaints connected to WhatsApp were submitted on the site.

The downtime meant that users could not send or receive any messages, leaving scores of people without their primary form of communication.

Here are some of the best Twitter reactions to the fiasco:

WhatsApp Users Right Now 😕#whatsappdown pic.twitter.com/mKRMc5fDsC

— Hassan Roonjho® (@Hassan_Roonjho) November 3, 2017

https://twitter.com/musicleadsus/status/926371302457397248

500 people have already died because Whatsapp is down and they couldn't forward a chain message to 10 people😆😆😆😆. #WhatsappDown

— Ibrahh✨🤍 (@__fadden) November 3, 2017

that moment when you realise you actually have to make a call because #WhatsApp is down pic.twitter.com/Igc6Y6jcqL

— Leb Not Mathosa (@Lebza_tainment) November 3, 2017

https://twitter.com/freak_glee/status/926374692105150466

https://twitter.com/MTshwete/status/926375268511617025

Whatsapp msg not sent:
Step 1: Restart Mobile Data
Step 2: Restart phone
Step 3: Check #Twitter #whatsappdown trending. Now I feel better!

— Gayatri Gambhir (@gayatri_171) November 3, 2017

2 mins of silence for those who unistalled & then installed WhatsApp again 🤣🤣😂😂#WhatsAppDown

— . (@amolrtale) November 3, 2017

#Whatsapp is down!!!! …. Bet you're all grateful for the 900000000 free SMS' you still get every month….

— Cindy Poluta (@CindyPoluta) November 3, 2017