3 Times Social Media Users Triumphed Over The Man (In The Most Minor Way Possible.)

Image: DMA

While the introduction of Web 2.0 brought about major paradigm shifts for the voiceless within the public sphere, the golden rule unfortunately usually applies. However, there are rare instances of those having the gold being torn down by a flood of voices united in one righteous movement, even if for just a minute.

3. Kylie Jenner Is Dethroned By An Egg

One can't discuss late-stage capitalism in pop culture without addressing the Kardashian family. However, to their credit, the famous-for-being-famous family perfected their social media images in ways that we mortals could only dream of. Predictably, Kylie Jenner once held the title of most liked photo on Instagram at 18 million. Until one user posted something more useful and less fragile.

Image: Instagram

ALL HAIL EGG

In an apparent attempt to expose the ludicrousness of social media standings, world_record_egg was promoted as a means of one banal, uninteresting item dethroning another in Instagram likes. And boy, did it succeed. The egg utterly crushed Kylie Jenner's record with a current standing of over 60,000,000 likes. While this is a nice win for the collective, tiny voices on social media, we definitely prefer Egg's later work.

Image: Know Your Meme

ALL HAIL EGG BOY

2. Kanye West's Subreddit Becomes A Holocaust Education Page

If you haven't seen Kanye West's interview on InfoWars in late 2022, oh boy, you are in for a wild ride. Dressed in a balaclava, West went on a lengthy anti-Semitic rant that can be best summed up with the quote 'I love Hitler'.

Image: Jim Bourg/Reuters

"Oh shit, is that what I sound like?"

Following this tirade, some of West's fans tried to pass it off as mental illness, but this was not good enough for the majority of people. In response, Kanye's subreddit page was flooded with Holocaust education posts, drowning out any and all discussions supporting Kanye's views. In a win for the people, Redditors banded together to show his horrific views would not be tolerated and suitably managed to turn his hate into something positive.

1. The UK Strips Simon Cowell of His Industry Stranglehold

After rising to prominence as a judge on American Idol in 2001, Simon Cowell used all of his creativity to produce basically the same show again, just with a slightly edgier name in 'X-Factor'.

Image: Nathan Laine/Bloomburg - Getty Images

Take popular thing, call it X, ruin everybody's day. Genius.

X-Factor winners had exhaustively won the Christmas Number 1 slot for four years running, so when part-time radio DJ Jon Morter began a Facebook campaign to buckle this trend, Brits got behind him in droves.

Expletive-ridden and head-bangingly heavy, Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name' could not have been further from the saccharine, producer-controlled pop that had dominated the competition. But thanks to Morter's social media campaign, the then 17-year-old song comfortably won in 2009. Even better, RATM donated all royalties to charity and performed a free concert in the UK as a way of thanks. It was a true Christmas miracle.

It’s always nice to see a real grassroots campaign go viral and dethrone the rich, powerful, and corporate entities that dominate the internet. Unfortunately, with most social media platforms now requiring payment to boost views, it has become harder than ever for true grassroots movements to take off. Let’s just hope the people find a way.

What’s your favourite example of people winning against the powerful on social media? Share your thoughts in the comments below.