A malfunction on the social media platform X, spearheaded by Elon Musk (formerly known as Twitter), has led to the vanishing of images and other media shared prior to 2014. Certain X users have expressed frustration, suggesting that this recent hiccup might be tied to cost-cutting endeavors carried out by Elon Musk’s company.
As reported by The Verge, the glitch appears to solely impact posts preceding December 2014, particularly those containing images and hyperlinks transformed using the platform’s integrated URL shortener.
The glitch on X also affected a prominent tweet from the 2014 Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres. This tweet featured a selfie taken during the Oscars ceremony, showcasing celebrities like Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, and Meryl Streep. DeGeneres had accompanied the selfie with the humorous caption, “If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever.”
Interestingly, it’s noted that Barack Obama’s renowned tweet following his 2012 election victory remains unaffected by the glitch. The post featured an image of him alongside his wife Michelle, captioned with “Four more years.”
Thus far, neither X Corp owner Elon Musk nor CEO Linda Yaccarino have officially addressed the reports of this glitch impacting older tweets. Nonetheless, The Verge’s report speculates that the glitch’s focus on tweets post-December 2014 could be connected to changes introduced by the social media platform in 2016. These changes involved the incorporation of ‘enhanced URL enrichment’ to display previews for linked websites and native attachments, overcoming the platform’s 140-character limit.
