TORONTO — An Internet expert says sporadic Twitter outages that kept some from using the social media network Tuesday morning highlight the importance of having "other options" for sharing information.
Elizabeth Dubois of the University of Ottawa says that while the disruption is "off-putting" for the average person, it can be a "substantial issue" for those who rely on Twitter for work, such as first responders and politicians.
Dubois, whose research focuses on technology and communication, says social media users can't count on a one-stop shop given technology's fallible nature.
Twitter acknowledged in an early morning tweet that some users were "experiencing problems" accessing the site but did not provide details as to the nature or the scope of the malfunction.
The site has suffered several service disruptions so far this year.
On Monday, some users could not access Twitter on mobile and web for about 10 minutes. The service was also disrupted on Friday for about 20 minutes.
