Stepan Saveliev, Russia’s 11-year-old Internet king

Last month, a mother living in Moscow felt bad for her 11-year-old son. She felt so bad that she turned to Facebook, where she appealed to her friends with a small request. It seems the poor boy was being teased at school because he didn’t get any likes on a page he meticulously maintains on the Russian social network Vkontakte. Wanting to rescue her son’s reputation at school, Stepan’s mom asked people to visit his Vkontakte page and like his posts.

Her son now has more than 13,000 subscribers on Vkontakte, and several thousand people have liked many of his recent posts. He’s also been invited on at least five Russian TV networks, and an array of Russian celebrities and public figures have written him in support.