Some Facebook users are currently unable to reach the site, faced instead with an error message and a terror akin to being stranded on a desert island, cut off from civilisation. Here are a couple of simple workarounds.
The bizzare outage, which only affects those using the Chrome browser, is centred in Europe, however users in other countries have reported problems as well. The issue has now spread to a few in Australia, with users taking to social media to complain.
Down in Australia
— Lesley Dewar (@LesleyDewarAU) August 23, 2017
However, there are a few quick temporary fixes to choose from that will get you back to jealously liking your friends’ holiday pictures in no time.
The most common suggestion amongst the Facebook-deprived is to hold Shift and refresh the page, which will load the website. I tried it out myself and indeed, I was greeted with the familiar blue header. However, I’m unable to scroll through posts, and each new page I navigate to within Facebook must be refreshed as well. It works, but it’s also very annoying.
Another option if you can’t wait it out is to switch to another browser. Fortune reports that Microsoft Edge will load Facebook just fine, but that would mean that you would have to use Microsoft Edge. Your call.
Finally, if you need your Facebook fix but can’t bring yourself to be untrue to your loving Chrome, just switch to Incognito mode, which I can confirm works much better than Shift-refreshing every page you go to. And possibly better than Microsoft Edge.