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eddit and X Back Online After Outages Disrupt U.S. Users

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Social media platforms X and Reddit have both recovered from outages that affected thousands of users across the United States on Thursday, according to data from outage tracking website Downdetector.com. The disruptions impacted users’ access to the sites for several hours before services were restored.

Reddit acknowledged the issue on its status page, noting that degraded performance started at approximately 3:16 p.m. ET. At the height of the outage, more than 33,000 incidents were reported, as tracked by Downdetector, which aggregates user-submitted reports.

A Reddit spokesperson explained that the issue was caused by a bug in a recent update, which has since been resolved, restoring the platform’s functionality.

Meanwhile, X also experienced a similar disruption, with about 18,000 outage reports at its peak. The disruption for the platform, owned by Elon Musk, began around 3:03 p.m. ET. X has yet to provide an official comment regarding the issue.

Though the reports are based on user submissions, the exact number of affected users is difficult to determine. Both platforms have since resumed normal service.

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Over half a million new users have flocked to China’s social media app RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, in just a few days, as Americans seek alternatives to TikTok ahead of a potential U.S. ban. The app’s popularity skyrocketed after American social media users began searching for a platform to move to, with RedNote experiencing a surge in downloads in the U.S. and climbing to the second most-popular free app on the Apple App Store.

According to sources, the app gained more than 700,000 new users in just two days. User growth in the U.S. spiked by over 200% year-over-year and 194% from the previous week, based on estimates from app data firm Sensor Tower. The app, which allows users to curate photos, videos, and text, was initially designed for Chinese users but has expanded its reach internationally.

RedNote was caught by surprise by the rapid influx of English-speaking users and has begun scrambling to implement moderation strategies and translation tools to manage the new demographic. Unlike many Chinese apps, RedNote maintains a single version of its app, not differentiating between its Chinese and international user bases, which poses challenges for content moderation.

The spike in users comes as TikTok faces a looming January 19 deadline to either sell or face a ban in the U.S. due to national security concerns. RedNote’s surge is seen as a potential path for the platform to gain global popularity, similar to TikTok’s success. The app’s recent valuation stands at $17 billion, and it has become a popular tool in China for discovering travel tips, anti-aging products, and more.

Some American users view the shift to RedNote as a response to government overreach, with many joining the platform to explore alternatives to TikTok. Despite the excitement, others are skeptical about rebuilding their TikTok followings on a new platform.