These photos were posted by a user on the anonymous message board 4chan — it appears to show a man dancing at a concert.
The person who uploaded the photos wrote: “Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing.”
Shortly afterwards, the images started to get a lot attention, but for all the right reasons. People were disgusted that the uploader felt the need to put down a stranger just trying to enjoy himself.
The pictures were picked up by Twitter user Cassandra Fairbanks, and that’s when it all started.
https://twitter.com/CassandraRules/status/573617663655571456
She put out a call to try and find the guy so that she could organize something special for him. It worked.
#FindDancingMan Help us find this dude with the moves! Let's do this, ladies! pic.twitter.com/JvBIkpIxdi
— TheElleWord (@TheElleWord) March 6, 2015
Who knows this guy?? We want to throw him a huge dance party with tons of beautiful babes. pic.twitter.com/FJiCR8wTWo
— CaseyHoran (@1WithTheSun) March 6, 2015
The search quickly spread, and pretty soon thousands of women were trying to find him on Twitter so they could invite him to party.
https://twitter.com/syddabid/status/573634945639305216
https://twitter.com/xorachelflies/status/573632543460712449
It even started trending with the hashtag #finddancingman
We need hashtag: #finddancingman RT @FitchyEmma: Twitter, can we find the man in this photo and tell him we love him? http://t.co/qFVxylExER
— Felicity Morse (@FelicityMorse) March 5, 2015
https://twitter.com/aiiNaa/status/573620982822260736
Many people were upset after seeing the photos.
Body shaming is awful & people hide behind social media. Help me and my 2,000 girlfriends #FindDancingMan #dancefree pic.twitter.com/i5iGXYKEwe
— Hope Leigh (@HOPELEIGHMUSIC) March 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/jocelynaspa/status/573757045163229185
And they wanted to find the man to make sure he heard their message loud and clear: “we’ve got your back”.
https://twitter.com/FitchyEmma/status/573605753447137280
I really hope someone is able to identify #DancingMan Half the Internet wants to give him a hug! #FindDancingMan
— Tinypants (@tinypants) March 6, 2015
The search was proving to be more difficult than expected, and as of Friday morning, people still had no clue who he was.
https://twitter.com/pinkukitten/status/573695003119124481
But then, this image surfaced.
https://twitter.com/RobertAPabich/status/573795145730105344
It was him! The internet had succeeded.
https://twitter.com/CassandraRules/status/573817848507715585
The party is on.
https://twitter.com/CassandraRules/status/573823355876302849
Even some celebrities have shown interest in performing at the party.
Hey @CassandraRules keep me posted about your dance party! @Dancingmanfound, never be ashamed of yourself. You are both truly #OTHER?
— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) March 6, 2015
i offer my dj services for free for #DancingMan #DancingManFound #FindDancingMan . no one should ever be ashamed about dancing.
— moby XⓋX (@thelittleidiot) March 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/AndrewWK/status/574057376942276608
As for the dancing man himself, it’s safe to say this is an experience he will never forget.
@Pharrell @CassandraRules Thanks for the interest and the tweet. Today is a day I have never imagined would happen
— Dancing Man (@Dancingmanfound) March 6, 2015