Netflix Outage Sends Binge Watchers Into A Frenzy
Netflix viewers are used to watching things on demand, so it’s no surprise that they are demanding answers as to why the streaming site went down for an extended period of time on Monday. The popular streaming site and app experienced a widespread outage on June 11, and dismayed fans headed to social media to check the status of the site and commiserate about the downtime. The website Outage Report, which tracks reports of down internet services, showed that the Netflix issue affected users across the United States and Europe.
Netflix did not reveal exactly what went wrong, but the company acknowledged the outage via a series of messages on Twitter. The company confirmed in a tweet that it was aware that subscribers were having issues streaming content across a number of devices. Shortly after, Netflix support said the issue was fixed but offered no further details.
A post on Netflix’s customer support account read, “We are aware of members having trouble streaming on all devices. We are investigating the issue and appreciate your patience.”
An hour later, a follow-up Twitter post revealed, “The streaming issues we reported earlier have now been resolved. Thank you for your patience, and as always, happy streaming!”
But during the Netflix outage, diehard binge watchers were having major meltdowns as they tried to figure out what to do without the streaming site.
Netflix fans flocked to Twitter to express their concerns about the outage, with some questioning the coincidence that the temporary shut down occurred on the same day that Net Neutrality died. Others joked about what they would do with their free time during the Netflix outage. You can see some of the tweets from Netflix viewers below.
Netflix is down. Women and children to the lifeboats.
— Sam (@morry_52) June 11, 2018
NETFLIX IS DOWN. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
— John Paul Green (@JohnPaulGreen) June 11, 2018
Interesting to see Netflix have massive outage issues when net neutrality rules hit. I wonder if Comcast is throttling again? #NetNeutrality #NetflixOutage
— Rick Neal (@Rick_Neal_Jr) June 12, 2018
It has only been about 10 years since Netflix began streaming content over the internet, but for a for a certain generation, TV is not done any other way. Netflix was founded in 1997, but the California based company originally dealt in DVD sales and mail-order rentals, according to The Sun. In 2012, the site began delivering original content. Today, some of the most popular TV shows are Netflix originals, including House of Cards, Jessica Jones, and The Crown, as well as the teen dramas 13 Reasons Why and Stranger Things.
Now that Net Neutrality rules have been repealed, Netflix could face a challenge that could be worse than an outage. It could soon be possible for internet companies such as Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and others to charge subscribers more money to get high-quality or faster Netflix streaming or access to social media sites like Facebook.
