Tia Paola

About

Tia Paola refers to a TikTok audio meme of Yanfry Díaz Quiñones, a Colombian boy who became famous for the Damn, here we go again meme. The trend gained interest in January 2023, with people using the audio to show dark-colored objects and animals, as well as people of color. The meme is often perceived as racist and has been a subject of criticism.

Origin

On December 30th, 2021, a video of the Colombian boy who created the original meme, Yanfry Díaz Quiñones,^[1] was uploaded on his TikTok^[2] account showing an interaction the kid had with his aunt "Tia Paola" when his sibling said something rude. Yanfry went out of the pool to tell his family what had happened. The wholesome video went viral garnering 58.7 million views and 4.3 million likes in one year.

A year later, the video resurfaced on TikTok with a combined audio of the kid saying "Tia Paola" and a SpongeBob SquarePants Spanish-dub scene in which the character says "we painted the whole house and without dropping a drop of paint." In a video uploaded by TikTok^[3] user @luigiceg_18 on December 28th, 2022, he appears to be walking through a store and spots a doll that he claims resembles Yanfry Díaz. The post received 9.7 million views and 839,300 likes in one week.

Spread

The audio used in @luigiceg_18's video went viral, being used in 133,400 other videos^[4] uploaded on the platform in one week. People began using the meme to caption dark-colored things at the same time the audio says "Tia Paola," such as in a TikTok^[5] by @judabb, uploaded on December 29th, 2022, in which she shows her black pug happily wagging his tail to her. The video received 16.2 million views and 1.7 million likes in one week (seen below).

The hashtag #tiapaola accumulated 565.9 million views on TikTok as of January 2023, with more videos being uploaded daily, like a TikTok by @d_after_life post on January 2nd, 2022, showing a father recreating the "Tia Paola" meme and his kid sharing the results on the platform. The post garnered 12 million views and 975.100 likes in two days (seen below).

Racist Connotations

While some videos following the trend show wholesome and funny moments, there are also some videos generating criticism on social media for alleged racist connotations when used to highlight different black objects or Black people. Twitter^[6] user @ysabelomega commented on the meme with a tweet ironically claiming racism is not real but all of Latin America is indulging in the "Tia Paola" meme. Her tweet, uploaded on January 3rd, 2022, has garnered 4,626 likes and 658 retweets in one day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References