At a Glance
- Instagram users are posting 2016 throwbacks en masse, celebrating the decade-old era of VSCO filters and Coachella fashion.
- The trend shows a collective nostalgia for the “colorful” and “carefree” vibe of 2016 social media.
- Why it matters: The wave of posts highlights how people romanticize the past as an escape from today’s online environment.
Instagram feeds have turned into a time capsule of 2016. Over the past two weeks, celebrities and everyday users alike have dug through camera rolls and Snapchat memories to share hyper-filtered photos from a decade ago.
The Signature Look
The photos echo the same aesthetic hallmarks:
- Matte lips and winged eyeliner
- Bold eyebrows and glamorous eye shadow
- Acai bowls and boxed water
- Chokers, aviator glasses and boho outfits popularized by Coachella
Katrina Yip, who joined the trend, summed up the collective vibe: “When I’m seeing people’s 2016 posts, even if they were in different states or slightly different ages, there’s all these similarities, like that dog filter or those chokers or The Chainsmokers. It makes it so funny to realize that we were all part of this big movement that we didn’t really even know at the time was, like, just following the trend of that time.”
A Golden Era of Social Media
For many millennials and older Gen Z, 2016 felt like the last year social media fostered genuine community. Facebook photo dumps were messy but authentic. Snapchat selfies were silly, not strategic. Brunch photos went up without a second thought.
Steffy Degreff, 38, shared her own throwbacks last week. She misses the chronological feeds that ended when you ran out of friends’ updates. Platforms felt “a little bit less malicious,” she said.
“I do think that 2016 was the beginning of the end of a golden era of when people felt really good about the internet and social media and politics,” Degreff added. “And then, obviously, the pandemic happened.”
Bright Colors vs. Quiet Luxury
Paige Lorentzen, 31, posted photos featuring once-ubiquitous brands like Boxed Water Is Better and Triangl Swimwear. She contrasted 2016’s saturated aesthetic with today’s neutral-toned “quiet luxury” minimalism.
“Everything felt like summer,” Lorentzen said. “Whereas back then, the brighter the saturation on your photos, the better.”
The Counter-Nostalgia Pushback
Not everyone wants to relive 2016. As “2026 is the new 2016” spread online, critics posted videos denouncing the trend. They cited living in the past and highlighted traumatic events from that year:
- Brexit referendum
- Pulse nightclub shooting (49 killed, 53 wounded)
- Police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile
- Zika outbreak
“Why is everyone trying to bring back 2016? Please don’t actually,” wrote one X user.
“i thought we all agreed that was a terrible year,” another posted.
Personal Bubbles Before Content Creation
Teens in 2016 recall life feeling more carefree. Content creation wasn’t yet a dominant force. YouTubers and Instagram influencers existed, but they seemed distant. TikTok hadn’t arrived; Vine stars popped up sporadically.
Yip noticed that her non-creator friends rarely post anymore except for major milestones.
“It was OK to be cringey, you know?” she said. “People were just posting for their friends. The people you followed on social media were just people you knew in real life.”
Influencer Memories
Teala Dunn, a mid-2010s YouTube star known for morning routines and vlogs, remembers 2016 as “fun and freedom and lightheartedness.”
“The internet was so popular, like a lot of things were starting to become really viral and fun,” Dunn said. “We didn’t take things too seriously.”
She now creates less personal content, citing today’s parasocial dynamics and easier online harassment.
The Pre-Covid Normal
Many view 2016 as the last “normal” year before Covid-19 upended life.
“I didn’t realize how much we took for granted normal life pre-Covid,” Dunn said. “Things were just a lot more fun.”
Since TikTok’s launch, algorithmic feeds have reshaped how creators connect with audiences. The platform now ranks among the world’s most popular social media apps.
Key Takeaways
- The 2016 throwback trend reveals a yearning for simpler, less commercialized social media
- Nostalgia centers on vibrant aesthetics and authentic friend-based sharing
- Critics remind us that 2016 carried global tragedies alongside personal highlights
- The divide highlights how individual experience shapes collective memory online
