In 2019, the power of the internet is practically limitless. With just the touch of a few buttons, you can be talking to your relatives on the other side of the world, proving your friend wrong about something on IMDb, or rage tweeting about fake news at 3am. It's wonderful!
Anyway, this weekend, one guy decided to put the power of the net to the test by tweeting about his dad's new donut shop in Missouri City, Texas.
"My dad is sad cause no one is coming to his new donut shop," tweeted Billy By on Saturday morning, who also shared a few pictures of his lonely-looking father in the new venue.
After a little bit of initial attention, Billy (whom the shop is actually named after) shared the address of the location, probably not expecting much to come of it. Within hours, however, the tweet had gone mega viral - and the results were astounding.
Thousands of people commented with support for Billy's dad, and hundreds had actually come through with their messages of solidarity by showing up and purchasing some sweet treats.
"I live literally 5 min away.. Most def coming tomorrow!" tweeted @vincy_bt, who dutifully provided pictures the next day showing the shop with an impressive number of customers.
Others wrote to say that they'd been along, too, and found it to be packed with satisfied customers.
"Dude it was really busy when I went too!!" said @femaleeha. "His mom was talking about how she usually knows how much to make in a day but today she didnt expect the turnout and the boudin kolaches are SO good."
Billy also plugged his dad's Insta, which showcases some of the most delectable goodies on offer.
Even that account has close to 60,000 followers already, which is staggering considering it's a family-run business that's only been open for one weekend. The next day, Billy took to Twitter again to let everyone know how the grand opening had gone.
"Just wanted to update yall! We completely sold out of donuts and kolaches!" he wrote. "You are all amazing. I can't thank everyone enough for coming out and supporting local businesses. This means so much to my family."
Even Twitter HQ paid the donut shop a visit.
And again, today, Billy let everyone know that their influence was still having an amazing impact.
"WE ARE SOLD OUT TODAY!" he wrote at 11.30am local time.
It just goes to show, a tiny seed can germinate into a huge movement on social media when it's showered with enough love and generosity from the online community. Let's hope we see a lot more of this in the future!
