Twitter users around the world experienced problems with the social media platform starting on April 16 that affected almost every feature of the site.
Millions of us refresh our Twitter feeds everyday, so when the platform starts experiencing any kind of widespread problem it quickly becomes either noticeable, a trending topic, or both.
On April 16, users started reporting that the site was completely down, though a lucky few were still able to Tweet and get the phrase “RIP Twitter” trending by April 17.
If you can read this tweet, you're one of the lucky ones.
Twitter is down right now across the world (except for a select few). pic.twitter.com/CuclanAulh
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) April 17, 2021
Sorting out all of the memes, Twitter definitely experienced periods where the site went down from April 16-17, with the mobile app being the most affected. When it wasn’t down, there also issues with uploading and viewing images, gifs, and videos, with most just failing to load at all.
Twitter told users that they were aware of the problems on Friday, and after an update on Saturday it seemed there were still some issues being ironed out for people still having trouble.
We know that parts of Twitter still aren’t working for some of you. We’re fixing an issue with our servers to get things back to normal soon. Thanks for sticking with us.
— Support (@Support) April 17, 2021
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The situation’s incredible irony that Twitter wasn’t working quickly started trending on Twitter itself, and provided plenty of fodder for jokes and memes galore while appearing in the Explore tab.
Most of these, as you would expect, are poking fun at the fact “RIP Twitter” was at the top of everyone’s feeds, but some speculated on what would happen if Twitter-addicts were actually faced with the prospect of not being able to share their thoughts, and it’s not pretty.
Me rolling up on my Twitter to see why RIP Twitter is trending: pic.twitter.com/EgQZgFSPYn
— In My Mind (@MeAloneInMyMind) April 17, 2021
Twitter addicts seeing RIP Twitter trending pic.twitter.com/aXfRNR64iu
— Jeffrey Walizer Jr (@JWalizerJr) April 17, 2021
How to get on Twitter if it stops working
So, how can you access your Timeline if you suddenly find yourself locked out? If you’re on a phone and things aren’t loading, try switching to a laptop or computer if possible, as the issues mostly seem to be affecting the mobile apps.
If this doesn’t work, you may just have to be patient and wait, maybe get up and get some fresh air, as the problems all seem to be on Twitter’s end and have not been fully resolved just yet, according to their tweets.