Jul 16, 2025, 12:00 AM
Jul 16, 2025, 12:00 AM

Reddit faces massive outage affecting over 120,000 users

Provocative
Highlights
  • On July 16, 2025, Reddit faced an outage, affecting up to 120,000 users who reported issues.
  • The company identified that a recent update caused the instability and promptly worked on a fix.
  • Users expressed frustration on social media, but communication from Reddit helped manage the situation.
Story

On July 16, 2025, Reddit experienced significant server issues that resulted in widespread outages for its users, particularly in the United States. Reports began emerging around 11:40 a.m. EDT, quickly escalating to more than 120,000 user complaints on DownDetector.com by noon. The issue was severe enough to grab attention on various social media platforms, with users expressing frustration as they lost access to the site. Prior to the outage, Reddit's spokesperson, Courtney Geesey-Dorr, acknowledged that a recent update had caused instability within the platform, leading to the disruptions experienced by users throughout the morning. In an effort to resolve the issue, Reddit confirmed via its social media accounts that they had identified the problem and were working diligently on a fix. By 12:21 p.m. EDT, the company announced that a solution had been implemented and that they were closely monitoring the situation to ensure a full recovery. This incident was not an isolated occurrence; Reddit has been facing similar outages and server issues intermittently over the past several months. The company's status page indicated that they had previously dealt with significant server failures in March, June, and back-to-back outages in November, affecting thousands of users during those instances as well. The company's communication strategy included an informal, humorous approach to address their users, utilizing social media memes to clarify the situation and stakeholders' reactions. In a light-hearted meme twist, Reddit’s mascot responded to an image of a woman expressing frustration over the outage, providing an amusing acknowledgment of the situation with a promise for resolution. This type of engagement is part of Reddit’s broader effort to maintain transparency and connect with their user base during operational challenges. As the situation unfolded, many users took to platforms like Twitter to discuss their experiences and express their frustrations. The company’s social media engagement appeared to resonate well, even during a challenging time, and ultimately highlighted the community's strong connection to the platform. As users began to regain access after the resolution was announced, the overall sentiment slowly shifted from frustration to relief, reinforcing the critical role Reddit plays in numerous online discussions and communities. The incident serves as a reminder of both the challenges facing large technology platforms due to software updates and server reliability, as well as the importance of rapid communication in maintaining user trust.

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