When Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign launch on Twitter Spaces was marred by delays and glitches, it's safe to say that few people expected the chaos to spill over into Elon Musk's own app. According to reports, Musk's platform experienced a series of technical issues during the event, causing his own app to crash repeatedly.
As DeSantis' team took to social media to boast about their campaign's popularity, behind-the-scenes tensions were running high. A source close to the situation revealed that Musk was left feeling furious over the problems his platform faced on Wednesday. Even worse, it seemed that Musk's own early access version of the app, dubbed Earlybird, wasn't immune to the issues.
The fallout from the event has left many wondering just how Twitter Spaces can improve its app user experience to handle high-traffic events like DeSantis' campaign launch. It's clear that there are still significant technical hurdles to overcome before Twitter's live streaming feature can be relied upon for major events.
The Aftermath
As users took to social media to voice their frustrations, it became apparent that they weren't alone in experiencing issues with the platform. Several reported that their Twitter apps had crashed during DeSantis' announcement, which was already delayed by over 20 minutes due to technical glitches.
But what's perhaps most surprising is just how unprepared Twitter seemed for the influx of users. According to reports from former Twitter employees, there was no plan in place to deal with reliability issues or traffic spikes. This lack of planning has left many questioning whether Twitter Spaces is truly ready for prime time.
The Numbers Game
While DeSantis' team may have claimed that their campaign launch broke the internet, the numbers tell a different story. At its peak, the event drew just 600,000 listeners – a far cry from Travis Scott's virtual Fortnite concert, which attracted over 30 million attendees. Even the PlayStation showcase on the same day managed to draw in a whopping 2.5 million viewers.
As Twitter continues to grapple with the fallout from this event, it's clear that there's still much work to be done to improve app user experience and ensure that major events like DeSantis' campaign launch run smoothly.