This week, a social media account of Elmo, the mysterious red monster from… Sesame Streetasked her 457,000 followers a simple question: “Elmo is just checking in! How's everyone doing?”
In thousands of responses, social media users told Elmo that no, in fact, their performance wasn't that hot.
One wrote: “Elmo I'm depressed and broke.” Others told Elmo that they had been laid off from their jobs, that they were worried about the 2024 election, or that their dog had rolled in goose poo.
Elmo's benign question on X brought thousands of responses. credit: Arisna Villanueva
“Every day, the abyss into which we stare at Elmo grows with unique horror,” said a response posted by Hanif Abdurraqib, poet, writer and contributor to New York times. “One that was previously of an unfathomable nature. Our inevitable doom, which used to accelerate in years or months, is now accelerating in hours, or even minutes.
“However, I had a good grapefruit earlier, thank you for your question,” the reply continued.
According to X Metrics, formerly known as Twitter, Elmo's question has been viewed more than 140 million times. Samantha Maltin, executive vice president and chief marketing and brand officer at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind it Sesame StreetHe said Elmo may not have been prepared for all the emotional exhaustion he shared in the response.
“I don’t think anyone expected how deeply this particular question resonated,” she said in an interview. “But we are so thrilled that we asked.”
She added that Maltin believes the overwhelming engagement with Elmo's post indicates a desperate need for free, accessible mental health resources.
