X, the social media platform that was formerly known as Twitter, experienced a major outage on Monday, affecting thousands of users in the United States. According to Downdetector, a website that tracks outages by collating status reports from users and other sources, the outage started around 6:30 p.m. ET and lasted for about an hour. During this time, users reported issues such as not being able to access the site, load tweets, send messages, or log in to their accounts.
The cause of the outage is not clear yet, but some users speculated that it might be related to the recent rebranding of the platform from Twitter to X. The rebranding was announced by X’s CEO Elon Musk in July 2023, as part of his vision to transform the platform into a more innovative and inclusive space for communication and creativity. Musk said that the new name X was chosen to represent the “unknown variable” that drives human progress and exploration.
However, the rebranding also faced some criticism and backlash from some users and experts, who questioned the necessity and legality of changing the name of a well-established and popular platform. Some users also expressed their dissatisfaction with the new logo and design of X, which features a blue X-shaped symbol on a white background. Some users said that the new logo was too bland, boring, or confusing, while others said that it resembled other existing logos or symbols.
X has not issued any official statement or explanation regarding the outage or its cause. However, some users reported that they received an email from X apologizing for the inconvenience and assuring them that the issue was resolved. The email also thanked them for their patience and support during the transition period.
According to Downdetector, X’s outage was one of the most reported outages in 2023, with more than 18,000 incidents at its peak. However, it was not the first time that X or Twitter faced an outage. In June 2023, Twitter suffered a global outage that lasted for about an hour and affected millions of users worldwide. In October 2022, Twitter also faced a partial outage that affected some features such as direct messages and notifications.
X or Twitter is not the only social media platform that has experienced outages in recent times. In March 2023, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp faced a massive outage that lasted for several hours and affected billions of users across the globe. In April 2023, YouTube also faced a brief outage that affected some users in the U.S. and Europe.
Outages are common occurrences in the online world, as they can be caused by various factors such as technical glitches, cyberattacks, human errors, or natural disasters. However, they can also have significant impacts on users’ lives and activities, as they rely on these platforms for communication, information, entertainment, or business purposes. Therefore, it is important for these platforms to ensure their reliability and security, as well as to communicate effectively with their users in case of any disruptions or issues.
