In a sudden turn of events, the social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, experienced widespread outages on Thursday, affecting users across multiple countries, including the UK, US, and India. Thousands reported problems accessing their feeds on both the website and the mobile app, with an unusual message greeting them: “Welcome to X.” As the platform faced disruptions, even premium subscribers to X Pro encountered issues with their feeds, displaying a frustrating “Waiting for posts” message.
Magnitude of the Outage:
Data from Downdetector.com revealed that over 70,000 users worldwide reported problems on the platform, with the peak of user reports occurring around 5.50 am GMT. The outage, which began at 5.30 am GMT, led to a significant interruption in users’ ability to engage with the platform, creating a ripple effect across different time zones.
X Pro Premium Service Affected:
Notably, even subscribers to X Pro, the platform’s blue tick premium subscription service, were not spared from the disruption. Users paying for premium features found themselves unable to access the content they subscribed for, raising concerns about the reliability of the platform’s services.
Recovery and Uncertainty:
As of 7 am GMT, some users reported that X appeared to be returning to normal, suggesting a gradual recovery from the outage. However, the reason behind this global disruption remained elusive. X, now under the ownership of multibillionaire Elon Musk, did not provide an immediate response to The Independent’s request for comments, leaving users and experts alike speculating about the cause of the outage.
Recurring Outages in 2023:
This incident marks the latest in a series of major outages for X throughout the year. The microblogging platform has faced technical problems in March, July, and most recently in October. The March outage coincided with a round of layoffs, leading users to encounter a welcome page, as if they were new to the platform. Subsequent outages in July resulted in users being unable to retrieve tweets, missing timelines, and experiencing the sudden disappearance of followers.
Possible Causes and Concerns:
The recurring nature of these outages raises questions about the platform’s infrastructure and its ability to provide a stable and reliable service to its vast user base. The lack of transparency regarding the cause of the outages adds to user frustration, emphasizing the need for better communication from the platform during such disruptions.
Conclusion:
As X works to restore normalcy and investigate the root cause of the outage, users are left to ponder the reliability of the platform they rely on for social interactions, news, and updates. The frequency of these disruptions underscores the importance of addressing underlying issues to ensure a more stable experience for users on this global social media platform.