Alpha is when systems are not all in place and still being put into place, beta is when all systems are in place and they are being tested, fixed, polished and tweaked. Everyone trying to describe what they are here has been wrong.
This was most certainly a beta, the systems are in place, they just didn't work, so they have to be fixed. When you are testing with a hundred or so internal people it is easy to think things are ready, when you unleash it to tens of thousands things pop up.