Archiving social media is a real problem today. Because most of public discourse happens through social media platforms, a single break in infrastructure can easily wipe out entire conversations and milestones in the modern era. Over the weekend, that exact scenario happened. A glitch on X reportedly erased most images and links from 2014 and beyond.

As spotted by Tom Coates on the platform, images from before December 2014 disappeared from the site. Likewise, links from the same period are also broken and lead nowhere. Among those that disappeared, one of the most notorious losses was a photo taken by Ellen DeGeneres at the Oscars — a tweet that garnered an enormous amount of retweets at the time.

X has not publicly commented on the supposed glitch. However, after the deletion was noticed, the platform restored the iconic Ellen DeGeneres photo to its full glory. It’s not a complete restoration, though. A lot of content are still missing.

The single photo’s restoration suggests that the content wasn’t outright deleted but rather misplaced. As some have pointed out, a few instances are still directly available from the servers. Users have also speculated that the glitch was intentionally done to free up valuable server space.

Regardless, the glitch — intentional or accidental — opens up an important issue on how the world can archive content on social media platforms. Despite how inane our conversations can be from day to day, losing a section of social media also means losing entire swaths of public discourse to the ether.

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X is continuing its arduous trek to become an all-in-one app. This time, after reintroducing native livestreaming, the platform is moving towards the next natural evolution: video chat. X CEO Linda Yaccarino has officially announced that the feature will come to the platform soon.

In an interview with CNBC, Yaccarino, who took the reins from Elon Musk earlier this year, announced that “soon, you’ll be able to make video chat calls without having to give your phone number to anyone on the platform.” As if that’s not enough, Andrea Conway, a designer at the company, also posted that she “just called someone on X.”

Given Conway’s post, the feature should be in a relatively stable part of the development process. However, it’s not clear when and how the platform plans to launch video chats for the public. It’s also unclear whether the feature will be available to all users or only to those who pay for X Premium, formerly known as Twitter Blue.

With the evolution of all social media platforms (and not just X), it’s not a surprising development for the company. The industry is dedicated to creating the next “everything” app or a hub where users can find everything they’ll need for their digital world: social media, communication, commerce, and other functionalities. TikTok, for instance, recently started tests to support podcasts.

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Netflix recently started a crusade against sharing passwords. The current version of the platform makes it difficult for users to share accounts without paying extra. Now, Netflix isn’t the only one irate over the phenomenon. Disney+ is now experimenting with ways to curb password sharing.

In an earnings call this week, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that the platform is “actively exploring ways to address account sharing.” For now, the company will just issue a new subscriber agreement later this year to make it clear where Disney+ stands on the issue. However, the platform will roll out more punitive action starting in 2024.

Iger did not elaborate on what those measures might be. For reference, Netflix started a new pricing scheme wherein users can pay a bit more to have someone outside of their household use the account. Netflix also blocks users if they detect that the device is not in the same household as the main account owner. Disney+ has precedent for following the same scheme.

Besides a potentially different scheme going forward, the platform is also raising the prices for its ad-free subscription in the United States. Starting October 12, the platform will charge US$ 13.99 per month for the tier, up from only US$ 10.99 per month. Hulu, another Disney-owned platform, will also raise its prices to US$ 17.99 per month from US$ 14.99 per month. To somewhat lessen the blow, Disney+ is introducing an ad-free bundle with Hulu for US$ 19.99 per month starting on September 6.

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