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Anyone else find it odd that the headline clumps Zoom, a service that relies on the internet being up, with Verizon, arguably a service that ensures that the in

Anyone else find it odd that the headline clumps Zoom, a service that relies on the internet being up, with Verizon, arguably a service that ensures that the internet is up to begin with? Feels a bit like saying "the power's out, causing issues for P&G and your refrigerator"

benmller313 6y ago
You're not wrong, but you can imagine for a non technical audience, the "internet" is the thing you browse, and "zoom" is the meeting machine you use and they are not inherently related.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- ethbr0 6y ago
  The greatest quality of the internet is that its users can be ignorant of its existence.
- jsight 6y ago
  Yes, there are a lot of people with that confusion. Now I wish that headlines didn't perpetuate the confusion.
kgermino 6y ago
I guess it comes do “how widespread is the zoom outage.” I.e. is zoom down for a lot of people whose internet is otherwise fine? If my fridge in Wisconsin is down because California lost power that’s more newsworthy.
- whoisburbansky 6y ago
  Ah, that's a good point, I'd assumed from reading the article that the issues with Zoom and other services were also limited to the East Coast. Thanks for pointing out that possibility!
kube-system 6y ago
It sounds like some people were experiencing a total loss of connectivity, but some were experiencing issues only with some sites.
tyingq 6y ago
Zoom's choices on network peering and redundancy could cause it to be grouped together with Verizon. Assuming, for example, it's a problem with some big peering points. Or, say, both accepted the same bad BGP route for something while other places didn't. Though it's also possible that a lot of Verizon customers first see the outage as "Zoom isn't working" and Wapo is just blindly echoing that grumbling. Seems likely since perhaps the first internet experience of the morning for many would be "join the Zoom call".
- whoisburbansky 6y ago
  Also a good point. I guess what irks me is that the headline promises something along the lines of what you and the other commenters have said, about failures either being more widespread or about deeper entanglements between the two services, but the article didn't really deliver on that, which is why I appreciate y'all bringing it up.
dpitkin 6y ago
https://downdetector.com/ https://downdetector.com/ shows both Verizon and Zoom as services that were reported out. Some of the Zoom reports from people using Fios who can't distinguish where the problem is but that's because it's hard, I thought it was my router at first
easterncalculus 6y ago
I see your point but your analogy also works like the headline. Your refrigerator stuck without power is immediate bad news (as opposed to a lamp or toaster being out) and Zoom being out is similarly bad news for lots of people at this time.
rdiddly 6y ago
In addition to all the other good points here, mentioning Zoom and the others also makes the story more vivid and "real" to people, which is important when you're competing for attention, clicks, and shares. You'll notice the headline would've basically been complete & sufficient after the word Coast: "Big Internet outages hit the East Coast." But just in case there are any Homer Simpsons out there unable to imagine the impact of such a thing, they're letting you know, that thing you think of as Zoom is actually the internet too. Also if you mention Zoom, you can then go on about how Zoom has "become essential" in these unprecedented times when we're all in this together now more than ever stay safe. If you're the type to get worried or outraged, that contradiction between "essential" and "not working" is a better magnet for your worry or outrage, which again makes you more likely to read & share it. I think editors have this stuff internalized and do it unconsciously. My cynicism about it has reached rather a sobering depth.
- whoisburbansky 6y ago
  Your cynicism about it makes for a very entertaining break-down of it all, so I applaud it!
SparkyMcUnicorn 6y ago
AWS was reporting "connectivity issues with an internet provider" here: https://status.aws.amazon.com/ https://status.aws.amazon.com/ It did seem to be causing issues for my N Virginia EC2 instances.

benmller313 6y ago

You're not wrong, but you can imagine for a non technical audience, the "internet" is the thing you browse, and "zoom" is the meeting machine you use and they are not inherently related.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
ethbr0 6y ago
The greatest quality of the internet is that its users can be ignorant of its existence.
jsight 6y ago
Yes, there are a lot of people with that confusion. Now I wish that headlines didn't perpetuate the confusion.

kgermino 6y ago

I guess it comes do “how widespread is the zoom outage.” I.e. is zoom down for a lot of people whose internet is otherwise fine? If my fridge in Wisconsin is down because California lost power that’s more newsworthy.

whoisburbansky 6y ago
Ah, that's a good point, I'd assumed from reading the article that the issues with Zoom and other services were also limited to the East Coast. Thanks for pointing out that possibility!

kube-system 6y ago

It sounds like some people were experiencing a total loss of connectivity, but some were experiencing issues only with some sites.

tyingq 6y ago

Zoom's choices on network peering and redundancy could cause it to be grouped together with Verizon. Assuming, for example, it's a problem with some big peering points. Or, say, both accepted the same bad BGP route for something while other places didn't. Though it's also possible that a lot of Verizon customers first see the outage as "Zoom isn't working" and Wapo is just blindly echoing that grumbling. Seems likely since perhaps the first internet experience of the morning for many would be "join the Zoom call".

whoisburbansky 6y ago
Also a good point. I guess what irks me is that the headline promises something along the lines of what you and the other commenters have said, about failures either being more widespread or about deeper entanglements between the two services, but the article didn't really deliver on that, which is why I appreciate y'all bringing it up.

dpitkin 6y ago

https://downdetector.com/ https://downdetector.com/ shows both Verizon and Zoom as services that were reported out. Some of the Zoom reports from people using Fios who can't distinguish where the problem is but that's because it's hard, I thought it was my router at first

easterncalculus 6y ago

I see your point but your analogy also works like the headline. Your refrigerator stuck without power is immediate bad news (as opposed to a lamp or toaster being out) and Zoom being out is similarly bad news for lots of people at this time.

rdiddly 6y ago

In addition to all the other good points here, mentioning Zoom and the others also makes the story more vivid and "real" to people, which is important when you're competing for attention, clicks, and shares. You'll notice the headline would've basically been complete & sufficient after the word Coast: "Big Internet outages hit the East Coast." But just in case there are any Homer Simpsons out there unable to imagine the impact of such a thing, they're letting you know, that thing you think of as Zoom is actually the internet too. Also if you mention Zoom, you can then go on about how Zoom has "become essential" in these unprecedented times when we're all in this together now more than ever stay safe. If you're the type to get worried or outraged, that contradiction between "essential" and "not working" is a better magnet for your worry or outrage, which again makes you more likely to read & share it. I think editors have this stuff internalized and do it unconsciously. My cynicism about it has reached rather a sobering depth.

whoisburbansky 6y ago
Your cynicism about it makes for a very entertaining break-down of it all, so I applaud it!

SparkyMcUnicorn 6y ago

AWS was reporting "connectivity issues with an internet provider" here: https://status.aws.amazon.com/ https://status.aws.amazon.com/ It did seem to be causing issues for my N Virginia EC2 instances.