"Lil Nigga" Instagram Reels Comments

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About

"Lil Nigga" Instagram Reels Comments refers to a phenomenon on Instagram Reels in which users post comments that start with or include the phrase "lil nigga" as a way to humorously demean the video's subject, who's most often a little kid whose video went viral in the Instagram "Explore" algorithm. Popular examples of "lil nigga" comments include "get a job lil nigga" and "shut up lil nigga," among others. The edgy spam comment trend started in mid-2023. Ultimately, it led to comparisons between Instagram Reels comments and TikTok comments, where on TikTok, the comments left on identical videos were generally wholesome instead of mean.

Origin

Starting in early 2023, a growing perception about Instagram Reels comments being generally toxic surfaced online. For instance, on March 28th, 2023, TikToker^[1] @rootbeerceo posted a viral video with text reading, "me staring at the most violent, hateful, bigoted and racist thing ever written (it's in an instagram reels comment with 30k likes)." Months later, on July 2nd, 2023, TikToker^[2] @orochimarustongue420 posted a viral video with text reading, "I sentence you to read through an instagram reel's comment section." However, neither of the aforementioned videos directly referenced the "lil nigga" comments.

Currently, the first-known Instagram Reel to feature "lil nigga" comments and amass cross-platform documentation was a Reel posted by Instagram^[3] user @wtx_elite on July 1st, 2023, which received roughly 7.4 million plays and 350,000 likes in two months (shown below). The video opened with text reading, "This kid is only 14 👀👀 look at how he moves," and showed a 14-year-old football prospect running drills.

The top comment on the video, posted by Instagram^[4] user @_onealodom around the time of its upload, read, "Hang up the cleats lil nigga," and received roughly 118,900 likes in six weeks (shown below).

Spread

Going into July 2023, people on TikTok started to reference the comments in videos, such as TikToker^[5] @famousskrilla on July 15th, 2023, whose video read, "When you up late at night and you watching them Instagram reels then you open the comments," and had a sound saying, "That nigga dead," gaining roughly 22,200 plays and 3,900 likes in two months (shown below, left). On August 1st, 2023, TikToker^[6] @cxpxlott posted a screen-recording of the comments left on @wtx_elite's Reel,^[3] receiving roughly 249,000 plays and 25,800 likes in a month (shown below, right).

On August 2nd, 2023, Instagram^[7] user @roddygracie05 posted a Reel with text reading, "My gege passed away it's hard," gaining roughly 7.1 million views and 697,000 likes in one month. The video gained infamy a few weeks later, around September 1st, when users started leaving "lil nigga" comments on the Reel. It was first documented by Instagram^[8] user @ssd.memes on September 3rd, 2023, gaining roughly 5,000 likes in 12 days (shown below). Soon after, it went viral on TikTok^[9] as well.

Screenshots and image-based memes of the phenomenon trended going into September 2023. For instance, on August 30th, 2023, Instagram^[10] user @bugdiepie posted a screenshot of a comment that also seemingly doxxed an IP address, gaining roughly 3,300 likes in 16 days (shown below, left). On August 31st, Instagram^[11] user @bootdank posted a Yassified Donald Trump Mugshot meme reading "get a job lil nigga," receiving roughly 3,300 likes in 15 days (shown below, right).

Viral parodies and sketches about the "lil nigga" Instagram Reels comments phenomenon started to surface on TikTok^[12]^[13]^[14] going into September 2023.