Fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, or poached, eggs can be served in a variety of ways. However, I believe it’s fair to say that we would never expect an egg to take the form of a social media giant. This was exactly the case, though, as an Instagram account titled “world_record_egg” took the Internet by storm this past week. The account’s sole post showed a picture of a brown egg with a white background, but it was the caption that captured people’s attention. The instructions were quite simple, the owner of the account challenged Instagram users to make a plain egg the most liked post in Instagram history. Kylie Jenner held the record at the time with 18 million likes, a tough mark to exceed. The egg started off slowly, amassing a legion of loyal followers in the first few days intent on exacting their mission. These devout followers then tagged their friends in the post, spurring a reaction that would bring the egg to the forefront of the Instagram world.

As the egg continued its ascent to the most liked post on Instagram, thousands of likes poured in every minute, putting the egg well on pace to best Kylie Jenner. I would like to say that the egg came to its highly-anticiapted goal in a climatic manner, but it was exactly the opposite. In fact, it’s almost impossible to know which lucky Instagram user was the one to put the egg over the mark. Nevertheless, the egg reached its goal as it became the most liked post in Instagram history, but it was far from done. Even after the record was set, users continued to like the post, ultimately propelling the number of likes to over 50 million.

Aside from the obvious humor, the egg raises an interesting question. Why are people so willing to rally around such a ridiculous cause? Perhaps it’s the hilarity inherent in a brown egg beating Internet mogul Kylie Jenner. Maybe it was to appease their friends who insisted on setting the record. Whatever it may have been, the egg seemed to bring people together with ease. Maybe there’s a lesson that can be learned from such a bizarre occurrence. We tend to accomplish extraordinary feats when we come together and unite in a cause. That’s the beauty of the egg, it’s non-controversial and universal, so everyone can participate. In the past few days, the Instagram account has posted two more photos of the same egg, this time with a crack slowly progressing throughout the egg. Although the egg has already reached its goal, followers are now left wondering what will hatch from the egg.