#FindDancingMan
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Overview
#FindDancingMan is a hashtag campaign launched by Twitter users in search of an overweight man who became a target of fat shaming after a photograph of him dancing at a music concert surfaced on 4chan in early March 2015. Within days of the campaign's launch, the man was identified as a U.K. resident named Sean.
Background
On February 13th, 2015, a anonymous 4chan user posted two photographs of a man dancing at a concert with message "Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing" to the /pol/[9] (politically incorrect) board (shown below). The comment subsequently received several replies criticizing the poster for being mean-spirited.
![Original 4chan Post β‘ Anonymous ID (2dHW w) | 02/13/15 Fri 13:30:20 No.4 1532441 41535420 >41535606 41535828 41536116 41536781 File: bell 41532772- 4153293 4 533214 41533253 4 53373 4153 624 53480 535047 4153529 415510 y.iog (278 KB, 1293x842) Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/427/207.jpg)
Notable Developments
Online Reaction
On March 4th, Imgur[1] user FrozenBadger uploaded a screenshot of the post titled "Why I Hate Children," which criticized the original poster for being cruel and immature. The following day, Twitter user @FitchyEmma[16] posted the screenshot asking for followers to find the man and "tell him that he is beautiful and we love him" (shown below).
![@FitchyEmma Tweet Captain Fitch @FitchyEmma Follow Twitter, can we find the man in this photo and tell him that he is beautiful and we love him? Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing RETWEETS FAVORITES 10:21 AM-5 Mar 2015](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/462/bea.png)
A Dance Party for the #DancingMan
Also on March 5th, Twitter user Cassandra Fairbanks[2] tweeted the screenshot, asking for viewers to identify the man to "do something special" for him (shown below, left). Within one week, the tweet gained over 4,300 favorites and 3,800 retweets. On March 6th, the @TheElleWord[3] Twitter feed posted a call to action to find the man pictured in the photos in order to throw a dance party with the hashtag #FindDancingMan[15] (shown below, right).
![@CassandraRules Tweet Cassandra @CassandraRules * Follow Anyone know this man or who posted this? There's a huge group of ladies in LA who would like to do something special γ β
Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing RETWEETSFAVORITES 3,866 4,316 5:54 PM-5 Mar 2015](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/430/e91.png)
![@TheElleWord Tweet Dancing Man, We don't know much about you but a photo on the internet suggested that you wanted to dance and were made to feel like you shouldn't be CANT BRING We want to see you dance freely and if you would have us, we would love to dance with you We are prepared to throw quite the dance party just for you if you'd have us To be clear it's 1,727 of us. And we are all women DOWN if this isn't appealing, we're ok with taking no for an answer but we'd like you to know-the offer stands May we have this dance? Sincerly An occasionally overly enthusiastic group of young women in California #finddancingman TheElleWord TheElleWord Follow #FindDancingMan Help us find this dude with the moves! Let's do this, ladies! 2:39 AM- 6 Mar 2015 384 RETWEETS 470 FAVORITES](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/429/fd2.png)
Identity
Also on March 6th, Fairbanks[4] tweeted a photograph of the dancing man holding a sign greeting Cassandra and his supporters on Twitter, and identified him as the creator of the @Dancingmanfound[8] Twitter feed (shown below). In four days, the @Dancingmanfound Twitter feed received upwards of 78,000 followers. According to The Daily Mail,[14] it was revealed that the man was named Sean and resided in London, England.
![@Dancingmanfound Photograph Cassandra Follow YAY TWITTER!!! @Dancingmanfound #FindDancingMan We are going to dancel!! 7:10 AM-6 Mar 2015 10,002 RETWEETS 13,301 FAVORITES](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/433/29c.png)
Celebrity Tweets
Also on March 6th, musicians Pharrell Williams,[5] Moby[6] and Andrew W.K.[7] tweeted their support for Sean and expressed interest in performing at his upcoming dance party (shown below).
![Pharrell Williams Tweet Follow Pharrell Williams @Pharrell Hey @CassandraRules keep me posted about your dance party!@Dancingmanfound, never be ashamed of yourself. You are both truly #OTHERA 1:09 PM - 6 Mar 2015 7,677 RETWEETS 12,230 FAVORITES](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/435/0b3.png)
![Moby Tweet Follow @thelittleidiot I Otter my dl Services tor tree tor #Dancing Man #DancingMan ever be ashamed about dancing. 3:31 PM-6 Mar 2015 Found #FindDancingMan. no one should 2,578 RETWEETS 4,002 FAVORITES](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/436/c39.png)
![Andrew W.K. Tweet Jessica Zollman @jayzombie I wonder if @Andrew.WK would like to get in on this #DancingMan party? I 07 Mar think I read somewhere that he likes to party abc7.com/society/women Aliulll)1ι
ww.IK. Ξ¦ Follow @jayzombie Of cours! This guuy is totally da rmaste way 1:01 PM-6 Mar 2015 82 RETWEETS 212 FAVORITES pariy r and I'm backing him all the](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/928/439/7af.png)
News Media Coverage
On March 7th, The Incredible World YouTube channel posted an interview with Fairbanks, who discussed the hashtag campaign and the upcoming dance party (shown below).
In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the campaign, including Metro,[11] BuzzFeed,[12] NY Daily News[10] and BBC News.[13]
Criticism
On March 10th, internet writer and humorist George Ouzonian, a.k.a Maddox, wrote a piece on his website[17] calling #finddancingman followers "well-intentioned idiots", arguing that there was no signs that people fact-checked the story as well as formulating an hypothesis that the dancing man may not want to be found and that, by doing this campaign, people may force him into a spotlight he didn't even choose. He also compared this well-intentioned craze to the Rolling Stone's UVA rape story in which reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely gave too much credit to the testimony of an alleged rape victim without checking for its conflicting details.
Dance Free Party
On May 25th, 2015, O'Brien was flown to Los Angeles by Cassandra Fairbanks' Dance Free organization for a fundraiser/dance party at the Avalon, after raising $40,000 on GoFundMe[18] for the flight, party expenses, and anti-bullying organizations. The musician Moby played songs for O'Brien, his fans, and the other celebrities in attendance β including Meghan Trainor, Andrew WK, and Monica Lewinsky β to dance to.[19]
![Dancing Man and Monica Lewinsky Got Β© Facebook](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/969/528/d66.jpg)
In addition, Sean O'Brien appeared on The Today Show and threw out the first pitch at a Dodgers game during his visit to Los Angeles.[19]
![Katy Dolle's Tweet View image on Twitter DANC FIGHTING ANIMAG Katy Dolle @katydolle Follow On the field w Dancingmanfound for his first pitch! #dancefree #iamdancingman @CassandraRules @DanceFreeMvmt 3:44 PM- 24 May 2015 γ 18 β
69](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/969/509/c44.png)
Search Interest
External References
[1] Imgur β Why I Hate Children
[2] Twitter β @CassandraRules
[3] Twitter β @TheElleWord
[4] Twitter β @CassandraRules
[6] Twitter β @thelittleidiot
[8] Twitter β @Dancingmanfound
[9] 4plebs β politically incorrect
[10] NY Daily News β #finddancingman
[11] Metro β Mans dance moves were laughed at by bullies
[12] BuzzFeed β After People Tried To Body-Shame
[13] BBC β Five things we know about Dancing Man
[14] The Daily Mail β Dancing Man who was shamed by bullies is tracked down
[15] Twitter β #finddancingman
[16] Twitter β @FitchyEmma
[17] The Best Page In The Universe β The Dancing Man and the
Cult of Well-Intentioned Idiots
[18] GoFundMe β Dance party for #dancingman
[19] The Independent β http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/dancing-man-shamed-by-internet-trolls-sean-obrien-has-the-last-laugh-10274981.html
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Top Comments
A Delicious Cut of Roast Beef
Mar 10, 2015 at 02:17PM EDT
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