Yesterday was supposed to be a regular workday for me. I’d just brewed my coffee, ready to design a media property for a client using Canva, when suddenly, Canva wouldn’t load. I thought it was my Wi-Fi. I restarted my router, even switched networks… nothing. Canva was down.
Naturally, curiosity kicked in. I did a little digging, and that’s when I found out: Amazon Web Services (AWS) was having a massive outage that affected millions of people worldwide.
What Actually Happened?
Early Monday morning, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, AWS, experienced a global outage that disrupted major apps and websites, from Snapchat and Reddit to Lyft, Coinbase, and yes, even Canva.
For several hours, people couldn’t access their favorite apps, businesses couldn’t process transactions, and even financial platforms like PayPal’s Venmo and Chime went dark. Some gaming giants – Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale, and Clash of Clans were also hit.
It wasn’t just entertainment or business tools. According to reports, banks, telecoms, and even the U.K.’s tax authority (HMRC) faced issues. The outage spread like digital wildfire.
Amazon later explained that the issue stemmed from an internal subsystem responsible for monitoring their network load balancers, basically, the system that helps distribute internet traffic smoothly. When it failed, the ripple effects were felt across the globe. This wasn’t just a tech hiccup. It was a reminder of how dependent we’ve become on a few cloud providers.
To put it in perspective, three companies (Amazon, Google, and Microsoft) power about 63% of the world’s cloud infrastructure. That means when one goes down, a significant chunk of the internet goes with it.
As Luke Kehoe, an analyst at Ookla, put it: “This is a wake-up call. AWS is so foundational to the internet that one issue can impact billions.” And he is right. The outage exposed something many parents, teachers, and students might not realize: that our apps, schools, and even smart home devices depend on invisible servers somewhere out there.
Why This Matters to Parents and Kids
Imagine this: your child can’t log into their online class because the learning app is down. Or you can’t access your digital banking app to pay a bill. Or your favorite design tool (like Canva, for example) simply won’t open. It’s more than an inconvenience; it’s a digital vulnerability.
We live in a world where our data, creativity, and even livelihoods are stored in the cloud. When something goes wrong, it reminds us that being cyber-aware isn’t optional anymore; it’s essential.
That’s why at Smart Teacher Platform, we teach families how to stay informed and safe online, not just about cyber threats like phishing and scams, but also about digital dependencies like this one.
What You Can Learn from the AWS Outage?
Here are a few lessons we can all take away from the AWS Outage.
Always Have Backups: Save your work locally when possible. If your design app or cloud drive goes down, you won’t lose progress.
Understand Your Digital Tools: Know which services you depend on and what powers them. A little awareness goes a long way when something breaks.
Endeavour to Teach Kids about “The Cloud”: Help them understand that when they save something “online,” it’s really stored on a physical server somewhere. It’s a great way to build early digital literacy.
Be Patient During Outages: When big systems crash, refreshing a hundred times won’t help. Instead, check reliable sources like AWS Health Dashboard or trusted tech news outlets for updates.
Discuss Digital Resilience: Talk to your children about how to adapt when technology fails, it builds problem-solving skills and reduces panic when the internet suddenly “disappears.”
Yesterday’s Canva experience reminded me how much we take these invisible systems for granted. One small glitch in Amazon’s network, and the world paused.
So the next time your favorite app goes down, instead of frustration, take a deep breath and maybe have a quick conversation with your kids about how incredible (and fragile) our digital world really is. Because the truth is: the more we understand technology, the safer and smarter we become online.
Stay Smart. Stay Secure. Stay Cyber-Aware. Follow Smart Teacher Platform for weekly breakdowns of tech trends, cybersecurity tips, and real-world lessons that make digital safety easy for families.
This was a good read.
Thank you so much, Angel! I’m glad you liked it. Please check out my latest blog post.