A picture posted by the Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres broke the record for most retweets, also causing Twitters servers to crash temporarily due to the sheer volume of traffic.

The picture, which shows Hollywood stars Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, DeGeneres, Kevin Spacey, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyong'o and her brother, was retweeted 2.7 million times at last count, easily breaking the previous record set by President Barack Obama of 781,000, posted at the time of his re-election.

"Let's try to set the record for most retweets,"

said DeGeneres whilst she gathered the celebrities together for what eventually became the most popular 'selfie' ever on Twitter.

Sauntering confidently into the audience during the ceremony, DeGeneres took out her smartphone and beckoned to the entire front row to pose for it.

A rapid post on Degeneres's Twitter account ensued, which she appropriately captioned "If only Bradley's arms were longer. Best photograph ever."

The picture can also be viewed here.