'Why Does It Look Like Skype From 1997?': Twitter Rips Into Elon Musk Over Poor Quality of Twitter Livestream The billionaire tested out an old code from 2015 to run the video.
By Emily Rella Edited by Jessica Thomas
Twitter users and haters alike have had no problem airing their grievances about the changes that have come to the platform since Tesla CEO Elon Musk took over late last year.
Though Musk stands by his claims that the sweeping changes he's made, such as removing legacy blue checkmarks for verified profiles and allowing Twitter Blue subscribers to edit their Tweets after they've been posted, are improvements for the better, he's now being roasted for seemingly taking a step backward with Twitter's newest livestreaming feature.
Related: Elon Musk Is Forcing Twitter Blue Verification on Certain People
The billionaire tested the new feature on Wednesday by broadcasting a livestream to his 138 million Twitter followers.
However, users quickly noticed that the stream was pixelated and low-resolution throughout the entirety of the 4-minute and 26-second live video.
"We're just testing the live video feature so we can see if it works, and we can modify it accordingly," Musk says during the stream.
He and another Twitter employee confirm in the video that the code they're using to power the livestream comes from the 2015 code for Periscope, a livestreaming app that was acquired by Twitter before its official independent launch and was discontinued in 2021.
Musk's stream reached a peak of roughly 150,000 live viewers before the video crashed and ended, though the clip, which now lives on his Twitter profile, has since been viewed more than 9.2 million times.
Many Twitter users reposted Musk's stream and lamented the poor quality of the video.
Ok. Here's my prediction. If Elon starts getting the hang of live-streaming Internet will break. But it will probably no longer be with 8-bit Twitter livestreams. I feel like now we will finally get to do Twitter livestreams that don't look like the camera is a potato
— TesLatino (@TesLatino) May 3, 2023
POV: you spent 45 billion on this app pic.twitter.com/u6VryUMkem
— Bark (@barkmeta) May 3, 2023
Is he on Mars?…or using a iPhone 2
— Bert (@JerseysSports10) May 3, 2023
Why does it look like Skype from 1997?
— Ralph Y (@RalphYA88) May 3, 2023
Is this a camera 50.000 B.C ?
— Cãlin (@Callingjin) May 3, 2023
Musk has not further elaborated on his plans for livestreaming on the app.
