Twitter down: Thousands report timeline not working amid apparent outage

Twitter appeared to experience a significant outage early Wednesday, as thousands of users reported outages starting around 5:15 a.m. ET, according to site outage tracker Downdetector.

The social media site appeared to be restored for some after 7 a.m. ET, with reports of declining on Downdetector.

#TwitterDown was also trending on the social media platform Wednesday morning.

Some users reported receiving a "Welcome to Twitter" message, which new Twitter users usually see during their first visit to the site.

"Welcome to Twitter!" the message, which was captured in screenshots, read. "This is the best place to see what’s happening in your world. Find some people and topics to follow now."

Others experienced difficultly refreshing their Twitter feeds – and were met with the message: "Tweets aren't loading right now. Try again."

More: Elon Musk says when he'll find a new Twitter CEO: end of 2023 would be 'good timing'

However, it appeared possible for new users to post new tweets. It was also possible for to see specific users' tweets by heading to individual account pages, The Independent reported.

What caused the outage?

It was not immediately clear why the social media platform's timeline was not fully functioning Wednesday mornining.

USA TODAY reached out to Twitter for comment.

Twitter layoffs

Wednesday's outage arrives following reports of Twitter's latest round of layoffs. The New York Times reported Twitter laid off 200 employees – or about 10% or the company's remaining workforce – Saturday night.

Thousands of Twitter employees have been laid off in the months following Elon Musk's October purchase of the company. Tuesday's layoffs bring the company's workforce to below 2,000 employees, down from 7,500 before Musk's takeover.

It was unclear if Wednesday's outage was connected to the most recent job cuts.

Twitter outages more common: Report

Twitter outages also appear to be on the rise.

For the month of February alone, Twitter experienced at least four significant outages – compared to a total of nine outages in 2022 – the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing data from internet outage tracker NetBlocks.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Twitter down? Timeline feed not working for many; outage reported