Who Runs the Egg Account on Instagram? New Details May Crack the Case

If you've been on the internet in 2019, chances are you've heard about the Instagram egg. The "world_record_egg" account posted a single image of a brown egg, asking the internet for likes so it could break the world record. After weeks of gathering steam, the egg finally reached its goal and is now the most liked Instagram post on the platform with more than 46 million likes.

The post crushed Beyonce's pregnancy announcement (11 million likes) and previous world record holder Kylie Jenner's birth announcement (18 million likes.) At one point the post was getting 8,000 likes a minute and it doesn't seem like it's stopping anytime soon. A sister egg has appeared on Twitter, which has already gathered over 500,000 in under a week.

There's even an official egg merchandise store endorsed by the Instagram account that sells hoodie with the "Egg Gang" motto plastered across the front.

Let's set a world record together and get the most retweeted tweet on Twitter. Beating the current world record held by Yusaku Maezawa @yousuck2020 (5.3 million!)

We got this 🙌 pic.twitter.com/VkMPwJo9GI

— World Record Egg (@egg_rt_record) January 14, 2019

Others online, like Miley Cyrus and FaZe Banks have posted their own eggs in an attempt to capitalize on 2019's oddest viral trend.

World record egg, after the clout pic.twitter.com/6BxlAxUiLv

— FaZe Banks (@Banks) January 16, 2019

The egg is an odd phenomena, but there's still one question that remains:

Who Runs The Egg Account?

The owner of the Instagram egg account is still anonymous, though many have claimed to hold the account. Supreme Patty, an Instagram influencer known best for his crazy stunts and reckless antics, claimed to be the sole owner of the egg to TMZ. The egg account denied these claims, saying "we're still anonymous. Fake news." There were also a few copycats on Instagram, faking posts that claimed they owned the account and were tricking news outlets.

"There are many people claiming to be behind the egg," an Instagram story on the account posted. "Please don't be fooled, This is the only official account. Any personal accounts of claiming the egg as their own are frauds!"

To find the real account holder, you have to follow the clues. We know the owner goes by Henrietta (which is a type of chicken), lives in London and only has 400 Instagram followers on their personal account according to an interview with The Independent. "I wish I could tell you how I managed to get the egg photo to go viral but I'm still working that out myself. It's been a whirlwind week and I've just been running with it," they said.

"I guess it's also a comment on celebrity culture and how fragile and easily cracked it is (pun intended)," the account owner told ABC 7 News NY. "But really I just thought it would be funny if something as simple as an egg could take the crown."

The Insider managed to track down Serghei Platanov, the original photographer of the egg photo, who has nothing to do with the Instagram account. ""My goal was to take a simple picture of an egg. For fun. Never ever I could think that it would be a sensation like this," Platanov wrote.

Newsweek has reached out to the Instagram egg account holder and will update this story with any new information.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Steven Asarch is a tech reporter for Newsweek currently based in New York City. In high school, he started stand-up ... Read more

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