Social media users darken their profile layouts after Trump's win

In the hours following the US presidential election results, social media users took to Twitter and Instagram to protest Donald Trump's win over Hillary Clinton, with a black box in place of a profile picture.

The movement under the hash-tag #TwitterBlackout began trending on the media and quickly gaining traction online on its way to "create unity" amidst a seemingly divided nation, as noted by E! Online.

One user on Twitter wrote "if you can't be at the protests tonight, join the virtual protests!" in order to urge more users to express their disappointments.

In particular, a black colour image by one Alexandre Breveglieri was doing the rounds. Written on it were words that read "To present that they are opposed to the result of Donald Trump becoming a president, Twitter users are changing their profile layouts to plain black."

Most of these users accompanied their black profiles with captions that list women and the minorities living in the United States.

"Tonight, I stand with-Woman-People of color-The LGBTQ+ community-Muslims-Disabled people," wrote one user.

"The LGBTQ+ community, hispanics, muslims, immigrants, POC, have always fought, & we will continue fighting," another wrote.

The first among the American celebrities was Katy Perry, who replaced her Twitter profile and header image with a plain black, tweeting, "Do not sit still. Do not weep. MOVE. We are not a nation that will let HATE lead us," and later added, "Fight for what is RIGHT."

The 32-year-old pop singer is one of many supporters of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and had spoken out on social media and in person regarding Trump taking the White House.

Lady Gaga, another staunch supporter of Clinton's, also took her disappointment to the streets early in the morning as she stood outside Trump Tower in New York City with a sign that read 'Love trumps hate' and clad in full black.