Once upon a time, there was a brief outage on some social media platforms. It got fixed. The end. On the face of it, kind of a boring story.

But the widespread attention given to the blanking of suggests another, perhaps less obvious tale: the one that shows that social media platforms, like the books or newspapers or insert-medium-here of other times in history, matter more than just being entertaining pastimes.

Wait, you mean those posts from that cousin you rarely see, sharing updates from her kidsB次元官网网址� lives? That reel from the influencer, introducing you to a culture or bit of knowledge you never knew? That photo collage you put up as a memorial to a loved one whose loss youB次元官网网址檙e grieving? The back-and-forth debate between people on your feed trying to one-up each other on topics that interest you?

Yes. The technologies might be recent. But the things we use them for? That taps into something age-old: Humans are wired to love stories. Telling them. Listening to them. Relating to each other and our communities through them. And, of late, showing them to the world piece by piece through our devices B次元官网网址� so much so that one of InstagramB次元官网网址檚 primary features is called, simply, B次元官网网址淪tories.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淥ur narrative capacity is B次元官网网址� one of the best ways through which we are able to connect with one another,B次元官网网址� says Evynn McFalls, vice president of marketing and brand at the NeuroLeadership Institute, a consultancy that incorporates neuroscience into its corporate work. B次元官网网址淥ur brains like stories because it makes it easier for us to understand other people, other circumstances.B次元官网网址�

SOCIAL MEDIA AS A COMMUNITY OF STORIES

In his book B次元官网网址淭he Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human,B次元官网网址� scholar Jonathan Gottschall says this: B次元官网网址淭he human imperative to make and consume stories runs even more deeply than literature, dreams and fantasy. We are soaked to the bone in story.B次元官网网址�

And in these times, social media is so often where theyB次元官网网址檙e told B次元官网网址� whether in pictures, videos, memes, text threads or mashups of all four. People can get news and information (and OK, yes, misinformation) there, learn and possibly sympathize with othersB次元官网网址� plights, see things in ways that help us make sense of the world. We tell our own stories on them, make connections with others that might not exist in any other space.

In many ways, these social spaces are where we do B次元官网网址渉uman.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 almost impossible for many people, especially in the United States, to think about their lives and communication without thinking about social media,B次元官网网址� says Samuel Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at AustinB次元官网网址檚 School of Journalism and Media.

So when theyB次元官网网址檙e disrupted? Uh-oh. Threads of connection can disappear. Endorphin-generating activities get cut off. Routines B次元官网网址� for better and for worse B次元官网网址� are interrupted, and and storytelling hiccup and falter.

B次元官网网址淥utside of the trivial nature of these platforms, theyB次元官网网址檝e also really morphed over the last 15 years into an advocacy space,B次元官网网址� says Imani Cheers, associate professor of digital storytelling at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. B次元官网网址淭hose types of outages can really cause disruption in the passing and service of information.B次元官网网址�

It can also ratchet up the impact if the interruption comes at a moment when communication and information are perceived to be needed the most, Woolley notes: In the United States, the outage corresponded with the moments many were heading to the polls for Super Tuesday.

B次元官网网址淓ven though the recent outage only lasted a handful of hours for most people, it still resulted in a lack of access to the news,B次元官网网址� Woolley says. B次元官网网址淎nd thatB次元官网网址檚 a problem.B次元官网网址�

A CREEPING SENSE OF UNEASE?

After the outages happened Tuesday, Andy Stone, MetaB次元官网网址檚 head of communications, on X, formerly known as Twitter. B次元官网网址淲e apologize for any inconvenience,B次元官网网址� he wrote. But for some, it was more visceral than simple inconvenience. Their stories and their online lives were at stake.

When Taylor Cole Miller, an assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, first realized that he wasnB次元官网网址檛 getting into his Facebook account Tuesday, his initial concern was security B次元官网网址� that he had somehow been hacked.

Shortly afterward came creeping panic: What if he had lost almost two decades of his Facebook existence, including some connections with people he only had over the platform?

B次元官网网址淚 hesitate to say that my life flashed before my eyes, because thatB次元官网网址檚 just so overwrought,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淏ut the fact of the matter is that as someone whoB次元官网网址檚 been on Facebook for 20 years, a significant amount of my life is archivedB次元官网网址� there.

B次元官网网址淢any of the ways that I connect with people is merely through Facebook. What happens if poof, it just goes away really fast? What does that mean for who I am as a person and how I interact with other people?B次元官网网址�

That type of reaction about losing something thatB次元官网网址檚 so part of the fabric of oneB次元官网网址檚 day speaks to the power of story to connect us, says Melanie Green, a professor in the department of communication at the University of Buffalo. And, not incidentally, to the platforms that amplify those stories.

B次元官网网址淗umans have a need to belong. WeB次元官网网址檙e social species, our survival often depends on being part of groups,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淪tories can help us feel that sense of belongingness.B次元官网网址�

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