Side Shot Nominate 6 Trend

2025Social media challenge / photo chain trendactive

Also known as: Side Shot 6 · Side Shot Nominate Six

Side Shot Nominate 6 Trend is a 2025 Instagram Story photo-chain where participants post side-profile photos and nominate six friends, sparking a cross-platform debate over whether athletic context was required.

Side Shot Nominate 6 is an Instagram Story chain trend that blew up among teenagers in late April 2025. Participants post a photo of themselves from the side, typically during a sporting event, and tag six friends to do the same. The trend sparked debate on TikTok when users started posting non-sports side shots, leading to a cross-platform argument about whether the trend required athletic context or any side profile would do.

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Overview

Side Shot Nominate 6 is a simple Instagram Stories chain game built on the platform's "Add Yours" sticker feature1. A user posts a photo showing their side profile and tags six friends to keep the chain going. The original intent leaned toward athletic or action shots, with early participants sharing candid images from football, basketball, ice hockey, and boxing4. But as the trend spread, people started posting any side-angle photo, sports or not, which became a point of contention across platforms2.

The format follows a familiar internet pattern: post something about yourself, nominate a set number of friends, and watch it spread like a digital chain letter1. It's structurally similar to challenges like the USC Speak Your Mind trend that preceded it on TikTok3.

The trend was created through Instagram's built-in "Add Yours" story sticker by the account @bigbangpictures1 sometime before April 30th, 20254. The "Add Yours" feature lets any Instagram user create a prompt that others can respond to by adding their own photo or video to the chain1. Once @bigbangpictures1 set up the "Side Shot Nominate 6" prompt, other users began tapping in with their own side-profile photos and tagging friends5.

The earliest documented wave of participation came in the final days of April 2025, with Instagram users sharing side shots from various sports2. The trend caught on quickly among Gen Z users who were already familiar with nomination-style challenges from years of similar formats circulating across social media1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram (Add Yours story sticker)
Key People
@bigbangpictures1
Date
2025

The trend was created through Instagram's built-in "Add Yours" story sticker by the account @bigbangpictures1 sometime before April 30th, 2025. The "Add Yours" feature lets any Instagram user create a prompt that others can respond to by adding their own photo or video to the chain. Once @bigbangpictures1 set up the "Side Shot Nominate 6" prompt, other users began tapping in with their own side-profile photos and tagging friends.

The earliest documented wave of participation came in the final days of April 2025, with Instagram users sharing side shots from various sports. The trend caught on quickly among Gen Z users who were already familiar with nomination-style challenges from years of similar formats circulating across social media.

How It Spread

By April 29th, 2025, the trend had grown large enough to draw attention on TikTok. TikToker @user8292928389201 posted a video asking "what the helly" the "Side Shot 6" trend was, pulling in over 28,000 views and 1,000 likes within a single day. That same day, @user276858063 uploaded a video asking "first the USC mind challenge, now the 'side shot, nominate 6'?? where are these coming from," which picked up over 23,000 views and 1,000 likes in 24 hours.

On April 30th, several Instagram users joined the trend with athletic side shots. User @rafael_11.kas posted ice hockey photos, @marmar.1k shared a shot in football gear, and @lod_viper6 posted from a boxing ring while tagging six others to participate. TikToker @grassisgreenerovahere posted a video captioned "Guys help what does side shot nominate 6 mean," which racked up over 407,400 views.

The cross-platform tension became a defining feature of the trend's spread. TikTok users largely insisted the challenge was about sports photography, criticizing Instagram users who posted casual or non-athletic side profiles. One TikTok commenter wrote, "People are posting photos of them not doing sports, and I'm confused now". Others scoffed at spinoffs like "face card nominate 6" and "fit check nominate 6" that started popping up.

Instagram users took a more relaxed approach. Some argued that "side" just meant "what you do on the side," not strictly a side-angle sports shot. The platform divide became its own talking point, with TikTok users seen as gatekeepers of the trend's original meaning while Instagram operated as more of a free-for-all.

How to Use This Meme

The Side Shot Nominate 6 format is straightforward:

1

Find or take a photo of yourself from the side. The common convention is an athletic or candid action shot (playing sports, at a game, working out), but many participants post any side-profile photo.

2

Open Instagram Stories and look for the "Side Shot Nominate 6" Add Yours sticker, or tap "Add Yours" on someone else's post who already has it.

3

Upload your side shot photo or video.

4

Tag six friends in the story to nominate them to participate.

5

Your friends then repeat the process, creating a chain reaction.

Cultural Impact

Side Shot Nominate 6 sits in a long lineage of social media chain challenges, from the Ice Bucket Challenge to the USC Speak Your Mind trend. What made it notable wasn't the format itself but the cross-platform culture clash it created. TikTok and Instagram users essentially argued over who owned the trend's meaning, with TikTokers enforcing stricter rules about what counted as a valid post.

Multiple outlets covered the trend in late April and early May 2025, including the Daily Dot, Distractify, and The SportsGrail. Know Your Meme documented it as part of a broader wave of Instagram-native trends gaining mainstream attention.

The trend also highlighted how Instagram's "Add Yours" feature had become a breeding ground for viral challenges, giving any user the ability to create a prompt that could reach millions without any algorithmic boost or celebrity endorsement.

Fun Facts

The trend's creator account @bigbangpictures1 didn't go viral themselves. The "Add Yours" sticker they made spread independently through Instagram's chain mechanic.

TikToker @grassisgreenerovahere's confused video about the trend outperformed many of the actual trend participants, pulling over 407,000 views.

The debate over whether non-sports photos "count" mirrors a recurring pattern in internet culture where early adopters police later participants for deviating from the original format.

Side Shot Nominate 6 and the USC Speak Your Mind challenge were frequently mentioned together as examples of a new wave of Instagram-native chain challenges that confused TikTok users.

Derivatives & Variations

Face Card Nominate 6:

A spinoff where participants post photos showing off their face rather than a side profile, criticized by purists as a dilution of the original trend[2].

Fit Check Nominate 6:

Another variant focused on outfit photos rather than side shots, also noted by TikTok users as a departure from the original format[2].

TikTok reaction videos:

A meta-trend where TikTokers posted videos reacting to, questioning, or mocking the Instagram challenge rather than participating in it directly[5].

Frequently Asked Questions

Side Shot Nominate 6 Trend

2025Social media challenge / photo chain trendactive

Also known as: Side Shot 6 · Side Shot Nominate Six

Side Shot Nominate 6 Trend is a 2025 Instagram Story photo-chain where participants post side-profile photos and nominate six friends, sparking a cross-platform debate over whether athletic context was required.

Side Shot Nominate 6 is an Instagram Story chain trend that blew up among teenagers in late April 2025. Participants post a photo of themselves from the side, typically during a sporting event, and tag six friends to do the same. The trend sparked debate on TikTok when users started posting non-sports side shots, leading to a cross-platform argument about whether the trend required athletic context or any side profile would do.

nomination chain memes challenge memes instagram add yours memes body pose memes gen z memes

Overview

Side Shot Nominate 6 is a simple Instagram Stories chain game built on the platform's "Add Yours" sticker feature. A user posts a photo showing their side profile and tags six friends to keep the chain going. The original intent leaned toward athletic or action shots, with early participants sharing candid images from football, basketball, ice hockey, and boxing. But as the trend spread, people started posting any side-angle photo, sports or not, which became a point of contention across platforms.

The format follows a familiar internet pattern: post something about yourself, nominate a set number of friends, and watch it spread like a digital chain letter. It's structurally similar to challenges like the USC Speak Your Mind trend that preceded it on TikTok.

The trend was created through Instagram's built-in "Add Yours" story sticker by the account @bigbangpictures1 sometime before April 30th, 2025. The "Add Yours" feature lets any Instagram user create a prompt that others can respond to by adding their own photo or video to the chain. Once @bigbangpictures1 set up the "Side Shot Nominate 6" prompt, other users began tapping in with their own side-profile photos and tagging friends.

The earliest documented wave of participation came in the final days of April 2025, with Instagram users sharing side shots from various sports. The trend caught on quickly among Gen Z users who were already familiar with nomination-style challenges from years of similar formats circulating across social media.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram (Add Yours story sticker)
Key People
@bigbangpictures1
Date
2025

The trend was created through Instagram's built-in "Add Yours" story sticker by the account @bigbangpictures1 sometime before April 30th, 2025. The "Add Yours" feature lets any Instagram user create a prompt that others can respond to by adding their own photo or video to the chain. Once @bigbangpictures1 set up the "Side Shot Nominate 6" prompt, other users began tapping in with their own side-profile photos and tagging friends.

The earliest documented wave of participation came in the final days of April 2025, with Instagram users sharing side shots from various sports. The trend caught on quickly among Gen Z users who were already familiar with nomination-style challenges from years of similar formats circulating across social media.

How It Spread

By April 29th, 2025, the trend had grown large enough to draw attention on TikTok. TikToker @user8292928389201 posted a video asking "what the helly" the "Side Shot 6" trend was, pulling in over 28,000 views and 1,000 likes within a single day. That same day, @user276858063 uploaded a video asking "first the USC mind challenge, now the 'side shot, nominate 6'?? where are these coming from," which picked up over 23,000 views and 1,000 likes in 24 hours.

On April 30th, several Instagram users joined the trend with athletic side shots. User @rafael_11.kas posted ice hockey photos, @marmar.1k shared a shot in football gear, and @lod_viper6 posted from a boxing ring while tagging six others to participate. TikToker @grassisgreenerovahere posted a video captioned "Guys help what does side shot nominate 6 mean," which racked up over 407,400 views.

The cross-platform tension became a defining feature of the trend's spread. TikTok users largely insisted the challenge was about sports photography, criticizing Instagram users who posted casual or non-athletic side profiles. One TikTok commenter wrote, "People are posting photos of them not doing sports, and I'm confused now". Others scoffed at spinoffs like "face card nominate 6" and "fit check nominate 6" that started popping up.

Instagram users took a more relaxed approach. Some argued that "side" just meant "what you do on the side," not strictly a side-angle sports shot. The platform divide became its own talking point, with TikTok users seen as gatekeepers of the trend's original meaning while Instagram operated as more of a free-for-all.

How to Use This Meme

The Side Shot Nominate 6 format is straightforward:

1

Find or take a photo of yourself from the side. The common convention is an athletic or candid action shot (playing sports, at a game, working out), but many participants post any side-profile photo.

2

Open Instagram Stories and look for the "Side Shot Nominate 6" Add Yours sticker, or tap "Add Yours" on someone else's post who already has it.

3

Upload your side shot photo or video.

4

Tag six friends in the story to nominate them to participate.

5

Your friends then repeat the process, creating a chain reaction.

Cultural Impact

Side Shot Nominate 6 sits in a long lineage of social media chain challenges, from the Ice Bucket Challenge to the USC Speak Your Mind trend. What made it notable wasn't the format itself but the cross-platform culture clash it created. TikTok and Instagram users essentially argued over who owned the trend's meaning, with TikTokers enforcing stricter rules about what counted as a valid post.

Multiple outlets covered the trend in late April and early May 2025, including the Daily Dot, Distractify, and The SportsGrail. Know Your Meme documented it as part of a broader wave of Instagram-native trends gaining mainstream attention.

The trend also highlighted how Instagram's "Add Yours" feature had become a breeding ground for viral challenges, giving any user the ability to create a prompt that could reach millions without any algorithmic boost or celebrity endorsement.

Fun Facts

The trend's creator account @bigbangpictures1 didn't go viral themselves. The "Add Yours" sticker they made spread independently through Instagram's chain mechanic.

TikToker @grassisgreenerovahere's confused video about the trend outperformed many of the actual trend participants, pulling over 407,000 views.

The debate over whether non-sports photos "count" mirrors a recurring pattern in internet culture where early adopters police later participants for deviating from the original format.

Side Shot Nominate 6 and the USC Speak Your Mind challenge were frequently mentioned together as examples of a new wave of Instagram-native chain challenges that confused TikTok users.

Derivatives & Variations

Face Card Nominate 6:

A spinoff where participants post photos showing off their face rather than a side profile, criticized by purists as a dilution of the original trend[2].

Fit Check Nominate 6:

Another variant focused on outfit photos rather than side shots, also noted by TikTok users as a departure from the original format[2].

TikTok reaction videos:

A meta-trend where TikTokers posted videos reacting to, questioning, or mocking the Instagram challenge rather than participating in it directly[5].

Frequently Asked Questions