Update: after 3 or so hours of downtime, Whatsapp is Backapp. For now. Then it may be Whatsdownn again...
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It has been an inauspicious beginning for the most ridiculous internet purchase since the last dot com bubble - Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of Whatsapp. Several hours ago, Whatsapp left its 400+ million users (each of which cost Facebook almost $50) in the dark, after the service went offline and has yet to provide a reason for the crash.
The only status update released by Whatsapp was the following tweet:
sorry we currently experiencing server issues. we hope to be back up and recovered shortly.
— WhatsApp Status (@wa_status) February 22, 2014 [4]
One would think $19 billion buys some grammar lessons...
So while Facebook's newly acquired subs are scrambling to figure out why they cant send a text message halfway around the world for free, and are considering using the iMessenger service, which would also achieve the same result, also for free, one well known hacking group, Anonymous, has implied it may be involved in the crash.
#Tangodown [5] Whats App :P lol
— Anonymous Own3r (@AnonymousOwn3r) February 22, 2014 [6]
Needless to say, adding insult to corporate sellout inury for Whatsapp's users would be a Snapchat like hacking which exposes millions of crotchshots for all to see. Which perhaps explains why while Whatsapp is scrambling to get back up, one clear winner has already emerged: Telegram [7](based in Berlin, Germany) is getting 100 new registrations…PER second!
This is crazy. We'are getting 100 new registrations every second. Trying hard to prevent connection issues in Europe.
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) February 22, 2014 [8]
We're experiencing connection issues in Europe caused by the avalanche of new users. We're getting it fixed asap.
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) February 22, 2014 [9]
At this pace, and assuming there are greater than Facebook fools out there, it will be worth over $1 trillion in mere months.
And now back to the regularly scheduled lessons in barriers to entry. And lack thereof.