Thousands of Instagram users experienced technical problems early Wednesday, with many reporting that they could not access their direct messages and that chat themes had disappeared.
Complaints quickly spread across social media platforms, including Instagram’s own subreddit, where users described several features not working properly.
Many users said their message inbox suddenly appeared empty even though they had existing conversations. One user wrote that their message page showed no chats despite receiving earlier notifications. Others reported being unable to search for contacts, scroll through conversations, or even use the app’s search tool.
Several users also mentioned that shared chat themes had vanished from their conversations. In some cases, the themes disappeared for both participants in a chat, suggesting the issue was affecting multiple accounts at once.
Outage monitoring website Downdetector recorded more than 10,000 complaints about Instagram during the peak of the disruption. According to the platform, about 71 percent of the reports were related to access issues. Around 19 percent of users reported server connection problems, while roughly 5 percent experienced issues with their Feed or timeline.
Most of the complaints came from the United States, where more than 10,000 reports were logged. India reported about 100 complaints, although the number has been rising. In the United Kingdom, around 170 users reported issues, with the spike occurring at approximately 9:11 a.m. IST.
Downdetector tracks outages by collecting reports from users and other sources, meaning the actual number of affected users may be higher than the recorded figures.
Meanwhile, a separate study has raised concerns about children’s social media use. Researchers who followed more than 8,000 children aged roughly 10 to 14 found that those who spent over 30 minutes a day on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat showed a gradual decline in their ability to concentrate.
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The study tracked the average time children spent on social media, watching videos, and playing video games. Screen time increased from about 30 minutes per day among 9-year-olds to nearly two and a half hours daily by the time they reached age 13.
