If you thought the Internet freaked out for a little bit and every site you went to was down, you’re not alone. Major websites were down: CNN, Huffington Post, ESPN, Gawker, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, etc. were all broken. Why? Because of a glitch with Facebook. Developers at Gawker said that the glitch started with Facebook Connect, basically any site that had a Facebook Like button on it was borked. Why? Because the bug would wrongly redirect those sites to Facebook which would result in an error page. The only way to prevent the Internet from dying on your computer was to log out of Facebook (since Facebook’s Like button is everywhere). But the truth is, how many people even realize they’re logged into Facebook? Or Google. Or Twitter. Or whatever. Everything connects on the Internet, even if you don’t see it.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.