Twitter Outage: Stay Updated on Potential Downtime
On January 16, 2026, a significant outage affected the platform formerly known as Twitter, now rebranded as X. Users across the United States and the United Kingdom reported issues loading tweets, with problems peaking at approximately 75,000 reports on DownDetector.
Details of the Outage
The problems manifested around 15:27 GMT, rapidly escalating to 2,000 reports within just 20 minutes. Eventually, this number soared to over 60,000 as users struggled to access their feeds and refresh the platform. By this time, fewer than 40,000 reports had been logged on DownDetector, suggesting a potential recovery.
Previous Outages and Comparisons
This incident mirrors a previous outage in 2025, caused by a fire at a data center in Hillsboro, Oregon. No official statement had been issued by X at the time regarding the cause, although the engineering team typically updates users on performance issues during outages.
Current Status
- Tweets are currently not loading across the platform.
- Users attempting to access X.com experience timeouts or 503 errors.
- A redirect from Twitter.com to X is not functioning as expected.
The user experience has been notably hindered, as many are unable to receive information or updates. X has yet to confirm the underlying issue, leaving users reliant on platforms such as Facebook or TikTok for communication.
How to Stay Updated
For those affected by the outage, it is advisable to keep an eye on DownDetector for updates and to check official social media feeds from X for any communications regarding the outage. Immediate credit or compensations similar to those offered by Verizon for its service interruption have not been anticipated for X Premium members.
As functioning returns to the platform, continued observation will be essential to ensure no further disruptions occur. Users are encouraged to stay informed and patient as X addresses the ongoing performance issues.
