Just how many people is 51 million people? To give you insight into just how big this number is, just a little over 51 million people make up the population of South Korea.

A picture that recently went viral at the beginning of the new year, breaking the world record for holding the most accountable likes — 51 million and counting — on Instagram, is now known as the “World Record Egg.”

A simple picture of a brown egg against a white background has stormed the internet and surpassed a photo of Kylie Jenner’s daughter, Stormi, which currently has around 18 million likes. The egg was first posted January 4th, shortly after the new year. It’s caption read, “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this!” It was then followed by hashtags #LikeTheEgg #EggSoldiers and now supposedly the name given to the followers of the egg, #EggGang.

The identity of the person who posted this photo has not yet been identified but is rumored to live somewhere in London. The egg has been the topic of many discussions including the popular Ellen Show. After briefly discussing the egg with her audience, Ellen concluded, “But I think this is great because with all the divisiveness that we have going on in the world, we found something that we can all agree on, it’s a damn egg.”

Ellen is indeed correct. Despite the simplicity of the appearance of the egg, a deeper meaning lingers within. The world seems to constantly be divided over politics, race, religion, gender, etc. There’s always something separating us, and social media often plays a starring role in our social decay. Yet, in this case, social media has brought more than 51 million people together in order to set a new world record.

The egg as a whole has allowed people to forget about the differences of others and to single-handedly bring together a tremendous amount of people. As of right now in 2019, Instagram is most likely going to surpass 111 million users, which means almost half of those users liked the egg! The egg’s fame has gotten to the point where it has its own merchandise, consisting of shirts, hoodies, and hats with the epochal egg on it. It’s not only popular on Instagram but Snapchat as well, where the egg has its own filter.

Two weeks after the post, the account posted another picture of the egg but with a slight crack in the upper left corner of it. On Monday the 25th, the account continued to post ANOTHER picture of the egg but this time even more fractured than the picture before. These pictures leave the fans with so many questions. What do the cracks represent? What will be revealed when it fully ruptures? When will the account owner decide to divulge the secret held in the egg?

All in all, the World Record Egg has become an internet sensation. Getting hundreds of likes by the minute, the egg has brought society together in a sense and hopefully will continue to do so. Leaving you now with that thought, have an egg-cellent rest of your day!