WhatsApp Outage UAE: WhatsApp went down and, actually, it was bliss, say Dubai parents

The messaging app WhatsApp went down today for many users in the UAE and across the world and, actually, it’s was bliss, say some parents in the emirates.

Users in the UAE have been reporting problems with sending messages and opening the app, according to website Downdetector, which recorded a massive spike in outage reports from around 11am UAE time.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms across the globe, with roughly two billion active users globally.

The Meta-owned company released a statement just after 12pm saying:

“We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible.”

Although services have now been restored for many users, the disruption brought many inter-school and work communications to a grinding halt, highlighting how heavily many people rely on the messaging app for official and work purposes as well as informal communication.

While Twitter was flooded with memes about the inconvenience caused by the stall in communications, some parents have expressed relief that they have a moment of peace without being bombarded by messages.

When your WhatsApp is playing up but you come to Twitter and see that everyone else is having the same problem #WhatsAppDown pic.twitter.com/pMcJm0Zn56

— Jamie (@GingerPower_) October 25, 2022

Belle Turner, a mother of two living in Dubai, told SchoolsCompared she was enjoying the temporary pause in school-related communications due to the glitch:

“It’s inconvenient that WhatsApp is down yes, but it’s also been a relief to get a few uninterrupted hours without my phone constantly lighting up with messages about donations for the school Halloween Party, or a parent workshop, or one of the many group chats I have with colleagues about my own work.

“I didn’t actually realise how much low-level stress the incessant messages cause until this WhatsApp outage happened.

“I don’t know exactly when, but somehow WhatsApp changed from being a place to chat with friends and family to being THE form of communication for the office and for a lot of school comms.

“Because it’s so immediate and you can see if a message has been read, every message feels urgent. I am in so many group chats now that I must usually get 30 – 60 messages an hour throughout working hours. It feels good not to have that for a while.”

Ms Turner’s words echo those of UAE-based author and mum-of-two Hayley Doyle, who wrote a comment piece titled “Hey WhatsApp? It ruins my life!”. She describes the excessive communications from her child’s school’s parent WhatsApp group:

“The WhatsApp group of parents from my son’s school has gone into overdrive. It’s the summer fair this weekend. Although I’ve signed up to help, I can’t remove myself from the group. There’s also a school trip this week. End of term gifts for teachers to sort. And the general lost property chit-chat.

“I could temporarily mute. Check later. I won’t be labelled Worst Mum Ever if I don’t respond to not knowing where little Freddie’s water bottle might be or agree right there and then to bake (cough, shop-buy) some muffins for the cake stall. But I might forget to unmute tonight. The catch up will become overwhelming. And my kid will end up being the one on the school trip with no packed lunch. But just as I was contemplating muting-for-now, the family WhatsApp group went PING!”

This sentiment has also been shared by parents across social media, who have joked that school communications are so excessive that they have had to quite their full-time jobs into order to read the emails and WhatsApp messages fulltime.

had to quit my job so i could read emails from my kids’ schools full time

— Robboo Manchild 👻 🏳️‍⚧️ (@RobertManchild) September 19, 2020

What do you think? Does your school use WhatsApp as a form of communication with parents? Do you feel your school’s communication is excessive, or does your school do it right? Please comment below or send your thoughts to [email protected].

© SchoolsCompared.com. A WhichMedia Group publication. 2022. All rights reserved.