SCI-TECH

Facebook withdrawal? 5 things you might also 'like'

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Monday, October 21, 2013 11:14AM EDT Last Updated Monday, October 21, 2013 1:12PM EDT

A Facebook employee at Facebook headquarters

In this March 15, 2013 file photo, a Facebook employee walks past a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Facebook Inc. said Thursday Oct. 10, 2013, that it is removing a setting that controls whether users could be found when people type their name into the website's search bar. (AP / Jeff Chiu)

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For a brief period Monday morning, Facebook users were unable to post status updates, comments, photos or send messages detailing their weekend activities.

The short-lived outage was restored by late Monday morning, when the popular social networking site issued an apology for the service disruption.

Due to the outage, users were able to log onto Facebook, but received an error message telling them to be patient and "try again in a few minutes" when attempting to post a new status, upload photos or add a comment.

For those times when Facebook goes down and you’re left without the ability to issue updates, here are five things you might also "like":

1. Twitter: You may be limited to 140 characters, but the micro-blogging site is an easy way to vent your frustrations, including those related to a Facebook outage. Users can search #facebookdown to commiserate with other Facebook addicts.

2. Reddit: For those needing their daily dose of bizarre news usually found on their Facebook feed, Reddit, the popular social news and entertainment website where users can submit content, is a treasure trove for strange information. Currently listed at number three on the website is a GIF of an animal head butting a child at a "petting zoo."

3. Instagram: Crop, edit and share that baby or cat picture you were saving to post Monday morning on the popular online photo-sharing service.

4. Foursquare: Tell your friends where you bought your cup of joe this morning using the location-based social networking site.

5. Telephone: Remember this ‘ancient’ technology? It still works for status updates, although depending on your conference calling abilities, its reach might be more limited than what you’ve become used to online.