Last weekend, I went on a short road trip with my partner. We started discussing albums we loved, specifically ones that were released back in 2016: Views by Drake, Anti by Rihanna, Blonde by Frank Ocean and Lemonade by Beyoncé. Turns out it was a monumental year for music, and we clearly weren’t the only ones reminiscing. In the past week, you’ve probably seen countless people on social media posting throwback pictures and videos from 2016.
These recent throwbacks have largely stuck to similar themes: photo filters that were overly colorful or had a harsh grain, specific pop culture references like the debut of Stranger Things and viral social media trends like the Mannequin Challenge. By flooding the internet with this nostalgia, it feels as if people are framing 2016 as some sort of cultural renaissance.
Crucially, age hasn’t been a limiting factor for this trend. From middle schoolers to adults, it doesn’t matter how old you were in 2016 — people of all types have expressed similar yearning by flocking to social media and posting their throwback photos. Celebrities and major brands are no exception.
The trend has gone insanely viral. According to TikTok, #2016 has 2.1 million posts globally, with more than an 890% increase in posts since the new year compared to the end of 2025. In captions and comments across these posts, people have chimed in agreeing with the hype, frequently saying things to the effect of “You just had to be there.”
So, what is it we’re all yearning for, exactly? If you ask around, you’ll probably get a different answer every time, but here’s what the experts are saying.
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If you look at outlet like the BBC, Today and NBC News, they all highlight how social media felt like a more carefree and enjoyable experience for users back in 2016. Experts offered the explanation that social media at the time wasn’t as performative. There was not the same level of curation or expectations like social media has today — you could post a picture of your grocery pick-up and no one would bat an eye. Apps like Instagram and Snapchat released filters that many of us were eager to use, versus today’s status quo of algorithm fatigue. Social media was a destination for real engagement that felt more exciting, fun and community-driven — and less forceful, fake and driven by money. Not to mention, there was no AI slop invasion.
Clay Routledge, a psychologist and expert in the science of nostalgia who spoke with Today, mentioned people also tend to be nostalgic when anxious about the future. “I think [Gen Z] is dealing with those anxieties, and they’re using nostalgia as a way to respond to them,” he said. Huh, no kidding. What could possibly be going on that’s making so many of us anxious right now?
Revisionist History?
This is not to say that there wasn’t anything negative that happened in 2016. It had its ups and downs, as all years do, and publications like the BBC, CNN and The Cut paid close attention to the lows when examining this trend.
“Young millennials would be in their early 30s, and the older Gen Z would be in their late 20s, and so 10 years ago would be that kind of youthful time,” Routledge also said to the BBC. “People are looking back maybe a decade and saying, ‘Okay, what was going on then?’”
It makes sense, then, that most people would rather focus on Snapchat filters and La La Land than any of these other major world events: Russia’s interference with the U.S. election, Brexit, the Pulse nightclub shooting, the Zika outbreak, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and notable celebrity deaths like Alan Rickman, David Bowie and Prince. And to point out the obvious: it was the last year before Donald Trump ushered in a drastic political shift in this country.
Ultimately, to some degree, a lot of younger people are probably seeing 2016 with rose-colored glasses. As someone who was 16 during this time, how can you blame us when Rihanna, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé all dropped masterpiece albums in the same year?
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