Ever since Elon Musk became the head of Twitter (now X), the platform has experienced both positive and negative activities, resembling a rollercoaster ride.
Recently, the Twitter owner talked about how the platform might fail, according to the predictions of many users and critics. Apparently, Elon Musk Made this statement when the social media platform experienced a massive glitch that saw pictures posted before December 2014 getting deleted.
In his words, Elon Musk said, "The sad truth is that there are no great “social networks” right now.
We may fail, as so many have predicted, but we will try our best to make there be at least one."
What Happened?
Over the past weekend, Twitter experienced a massive glitch that affected the operations of the social media platform. Apparently, a major glitch occurred in the platform, causing some pictures and other media elements to get deleted.
Several platform users, including technologist Tom Coates, observed the glitch. Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has resulted in new adversaries, particularly those who are skeptical of X's latest features. Additionally, some individuals have expressed their views on Twitter censorship issues under Musk's leadership.
Moving on, Tom Coates said Twitter under Elon Musk is a field of vandalism of a once-up-and-running social media platform.
"More vandalism from @elonmusk. Twitter has now removed all media posted before 2014. Thats - so far - almost a decade of pictures and videos from the early 2000s removed from the service.
For example, here’s a search of my media tweets from before 2014," Tom Coates said.
More vandalism from @elonmusk. Twitter has now removed all media posted before 2014. Thats - so far - almost a decade of pictures and videos from the early 2000s removed from the service.
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) August 19, 2023
For example, here’s a search of my media tweets from before 2014. https://t.co/FU6K34oqmA
It seems that Tom Coates suggested that Twitter was cutting costs by decreasing the amount of media stored on their servers. This resulted in a mistake that caused Ellen DeGeneres' iconic Oscars selfie from 2014 to be removed from the platform. Thankfully, it was eventually restored.
There are various theories about the cause of the glitch. Some people speculate that Elon Musk and his team are removing old pictures to free up storage space on the platform. Others suggest that the glitch may be related to the "enhanced URL enrichment" feature, which lets users display previews for linked websites and attachments that exceed the company's 140-character limit.
Problems Mounting for Elon Musk
Elon Musk faced multiple challenges when he assumed control of Twitter. Firstly, there was a significant decrease in the number of employees.
Additionally, there were rumors that access to other social media platforms like Facebook, Threads, and Instagram were slowed down by X. Earlier this year, there was also a technical glitch that prevented some users from sending direct messages. Furthermore, there was a time when users were restricted in the number of tweets they could view on the platform.
Also, Elon Musk will have to make annual interest payments of $1.5bn due to the debt he took to purchase the social media platform last year.
Paying bills also seems to be a major problem for Elon Musk. At one point X employees were driven away from their offices over failure to pay rent. Apparently, there are also claims of lawsuits over more than $14m (£11m) in unpaid bills since Elon Musk bought the platform.