Don't panic... But Facebook and Instagram are down

LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - Facebook and Instagram were down on Wednesday, according to users worldwide. Complaints began popping up all over the web around 10 a.m. PT stating that neither Facebook nor Instagram was allowing them to log in.

Downdetector.com, which monitors websites technology issues, showed that Facebook was experiencing issues across a large portion of the U.S. and Europe in addition to several reports from most continents.

Users were given an "error" message when they attempted to log in to Facebook that read, "Facebook Will Be Back Soon."

The message continued on to say, "Facebook is down for required maintenance right now, but you should be able to get back on within a few minutes. In the meantime, read more about why you're seeing this message. Thanks for your patience as we improve the site."

According to Facebook, here is what the error means:

This usually means we're making an improvement to the database your account is stored on. While this process won't affect your account, you temporarily won't be able to access the site.
Keep in mind, we don't do site maintenance on all accounts at the same time. It's possible that your friends will be able to access the site while your account is still unavailable.

A similar message appeared to users on Instagram when trying to log in, saying, "We couldn't connect to Instagram. Make sure you're connected to the internet and try again."

"We're aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing the Facebook family of apps," a Facebook spokesperson said on Twitter at 10:49 a.m. ET. "We're working to resolve the issue as soon as possible."

An hour later, the company took to Twitter again, stating, "We're focused on working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, but can confirm that the issue is not related to a DDoS attack."

A member of the Facebook team posted on the developer platform status page stating, "We are currently experiencing issues that may cause some API requests to take longer or fail unexpectedly. We are investigating the issue and working on a resolution."

It is still unclear when two of the biggest social media networks will be back up and running.

This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.