#TBT: “Closer” by The Chain-smokers is topping the charts, Justin Bieber is posting pics with the Snapchat puppy filter on, and avocado toast and winged eyeliner are sexy again.
For some denizens of the internet, when the countdown hit zero on New Year’s Eve, the calendar flipped from 2025 to 2016. According to the BBC, TikTok reported a 452% increase in searches for “2016” in the first week of January.
Teenagers and young adults took to social media, resulting in the emergence of trends involving 2016-style filters and motifs (think rosy tints, oversaturated colors, palm trees, and sunsets), as well as hashtags like #Bring-Back2016. Furthermore, the iconic pop and EDM music that we’ve come to think of as synonymous with the late 2010s is beginning to make a reappearance. In fact, BBC reports that Swedish pop star Zara Larsson’s 2016 hit “Lush Life” has once again broken the Top 10 on UK charts.
But beyond the obvious, why does 2016 have such a powerful hold on young social media users? What’s driving this sudden trip down memory lane, and what does it imply?
For starters, research has shown that nostalgia is a formidable force, even among the youth. A 2023 survey conducted by GWI suggested that Gen Z is the generation most likely to yearn for the good old days of 2016, with 42% of those surveyed indicating that they felt nostalgic. This may be due, in part, to the fact that the average Gen Z-er was around 10 years old in 2016 — too young to be bogged down with school, employment, or other adult responsibilities.
There may also be a political aspect to this nostalgia. 2016 is sometimes referred to by left-leaning individuals as “the last good year,” as the election of Donald Trump in November 2016 was considered the beginning of the end. And now that we’re a year into his second term, some people might consider the prospect of returning to pre-Trump times pretty appealing.
But the most significant factor driving the online revival of 2016 might be the unwanted evolution of social media culture.
While 2016 is often lauded for being a “simpler time” for social media — when people posted for their own satisfaction rather than others’ approval — modern social media is a sea of blank profiles and staged photos. It’s often seen as embarrassing or annoying to post constantly or about mundane things. Some social media users even create “spam accounts” for the express purpose of keeping their main accounts “clean.” Back in 2016, though, you could post your bikini pics or your drawing of Bart Simpson or your grandma’s ashes. People almost seemed happier and freer to express themselves.
After all, studies have shown negative correlations between long-term social media addiction and self-esteem in adolescents. In fact, a 2022 study published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry found that “social media addiction levels of the participants negatively predicted their self-esteem and body image levels.” This may partially explain the nostalgia the younger members of Gen Z feel for 2016 — when social media seemed to foster authentic self-expression rather than feelings of inadequacy.
Finally, the recent rise and rapid growth of generative AI use have further altered the landscape of social media. The term “AI slop” was coined by young adults to express displeasure with the low-quality, machine-generated images and short videos currently dominating modern social media. Artifice has become the norm, in contrast to the earnestness of 2016.
Stressed, politically disillusioned, self-conscious, and faced with tumultuous cultural change, regression almost seems a natural progression for today’s youth. But hey! At least fidget spinners are cool again.
