Nileseyy Niles Disappears
TL;DR · OriginIt began on April 28, 2015, with three successive Vine videos posted by comedian Nileseyy Niles, whose real name is Niles Stewart (Know Your Meme entry). In them he throws up…
Origin
It began on April 28, 2015, with three successive Vine videos posted by comedian Nileseyy Niles, whose real name is Niles Stewart (Know Your Meme entry). In them he throws up a peace sign and then vanishes on the spot via a special effect.
What made it a meme is not how he disappears but the attitude with which he does. No excuse, no explanation — he leaves a gesture and erases his own presence. It is hard to visualize the urge to get out of an awkward situation more concisely.
Spread
As of April 2016 the three videos had 1.8 million, nearly 1 million, and 1.9 million loops respectively. The meme took hold on June 19, 2015, when Twitter user chanelpuke posted a screenshot sequence from the third video, earning 2,329 retweets and 4,114 likes. The next day, June 20, a parody WorldStarHipHop account amplified it further, drawing 4,753 retweets and 5,901 likes.
On October 10, 2015, Niles posted a twenty-three-minute YouTube video explaining his life, his friends and, above all, how he acquired his disappearing abilities; it passed 1.15 million views. He took the meme's premise and ran with it himself. The image sequence went on to become a standard reaction on Black Twitter for someone exiting an embarrassing situation.
Usage
- Quietly exiting an awkward or difficult situation
- Realizing you have walked into the wrong conversation
- As a declaration that you are leaving without saying more
- Building a "gradually vanishing" effect out of the screenshot sequence
