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This paper explores the work of a group of Gulf-based Instagram influencers in order to examine the top-down diversity discourses with which they engage, and the way in which their performances affirm or challenge these discourses. I draw on a series of comedic skits that depict everyday encounters with linguistic and cultural difference, focusing in particular on videos that foreground instances of identification of the self and others. Both the themes the influencers explore and the ways in which they pose them inspire active debate among commenters, making the videos a significant site for public negotiation of linguistic and social dimensions of Khaleejiness. Through detailed analysis of the videos and their associated comment sections, I argue that the influencers’ work promotes a cosmopolitan Khaleeji identity with room for espousing both authenticity and hybridity.