Elmo, the red Sesame Street Muppet notably known for referring to himself in the third person, made a welfare check on social media, and he never expected the volume of replies to his question.

"Elmo is just checking in!" the character wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "How is everybody doing?"

According to X's recent metrics, Elmo's question was seen more than 140 million times. As of Thursday (Feb. 1), the tweet was reposted over 11,500 times and had more than 41,400 quotes.

People's Replies to Elmo

There were thousands of responses, mostly saying they were not doing well. It could be observed that the responses uncovered existential dread and despair.

"Elmo I'm depressed and broke," one wrote.

"The world is burning around, Elmo," another said.

"Has anyone checked on you, Elmo?" asked a third, reflecting on the countless responses to his question.

Others told Elmo that they had been laid off, were anxious about the 2024 US presidential election, or that they were generally worried about everything happening in the world.

There are also celebrities responding to the Muppet's wellness check.

"[I am] resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I am kinda sad," actress Rachel Zegler said.

"Elmo, each day the abyss we stare into grows a unique horror," read a response posted by New York Times contributor Hanif Abdurraqib. "One that was previously unfathomable in nature. Our inevitable doom which once accelerated in years, or months, now accelerates in hours, even minutes."

Several companies have used the tweet to market their products and services, while others shared memes and light-hearted responses reflecting on darker situations they are going through.

Several Sesame Street characters have also chimed in to support Elmo, including the Cookie Monster, Bert, and even the official Sesame Street account.

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Sesame Street Team: Elmo is Overwhelmed with Responses

Meanwhile, Sesame Workshop executive vice president and chief marketing and brand officer Samantha Maltin said that Elmo might have been overwhelmed by the emotional fatigue vented out in response to his question.

"I don't think anyone anticipated how deeply this particular question would resonate," she added. "But we're so thrilled that we did ask." Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit behind Sesame Street and the social media accounts of characters like Elmo, Grover, and Big Bird, who had a Twitter exchange with Republican Senator Ted Cruz in 2021 regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

The accounts aimed to function as an extension of the characters' voices and interests, as well as to promote the educational content that Sesame Workshop provided for children and parents. Maltin added that asking open-ended questions was a strategic way to increase engagement with the accounts.

However, the observation was shared by some users as well, some more negatively than others.

"I did not have us all trauma-dumping on Elmo on my bingo card," a user observed.

"We started this year - STARTED IT - by trauma-dumping so hard on Elmo, the official Sesame Street account had to tweet out mental health resources," complained another. "God help us."

Nevertheless, Elmo made a follow-up tweet responding to all of the replies to his welfare check.

"Wow! Elmo is glad he asked!" he said. "Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you."

Even US President Joe Biden commended the red Muppet's attempt to check on people.

"Our friend Elmo is right," he said on X, "we have to be there for each other, offer our help to a neighbor in need, and above all else, ask for help when we need it."

The follow-up made users thank Elmo for his online welfare check, while other users urged Elmo to also check on his Muppet pals like Cookie Monster and Big Bird.

Elmo previously had another viral social media engagement in 2022, when he ranted about a pet rock named Rocco.

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