As we head into the new year, it didn’t take long for the first trend of 2026 to appear. No one expected that trend to be 2016.
Right when the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, users flocked to social media, posting throwback photos and reviving the classic Rio de Janeiro Instagram filter because, let’s be honest, filters dominated social media in 2016.
This nostalgic look back felt unexpected. The new year is usually a time to set goals, look forward, and leave the past behind. Instead, this year did the complete opposite, with people looking nearly a decade backward.
So what made 2016 so special that we’re suddenly trying to recreate it in 2026?
a year worth romanticizing?
2016 wasn’t perfect, actually, it was far from it.
For many Americans, the year was defined by President Donald Trump defeating Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. It also carried devastating tragedies, including the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando on June 12, which remains one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, and the deadliest attack against the LGBTQ+ community in modern history.
The year also saw the loss of influential figures across music, film, and sports, such as David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, and Muhammad Ali.
Still, 2016 had its cultural highs.
Stranger Things premiered on Netflix that summer and quickly became a phenomenon. Apple released the iPhone 7. Fashion leaned heavily into bomber jackets, chokers, and ripped denim. In 2016, the internet felt lighter, weirder, and less curated.
For many people, especially today’s college students, it was one of the last years that felt uncomplicated.
Does 2026 really feel like 2016 again?
Already, 2026 has a different kind of energy.
Some have joked that it’s literally written in the stars. In the Chinese zodiac, 2026 is the Year of the Horse, which symbolizes action, freedom, and forward momentum. Whether you believe in astrology or not, the year does feel faster, maybe even hopeful.
Pop culture is certainly helping. Long-awaited album announcements from artists like Harry Styles and Noah Kahan have fans buzzing. Online, fandom spaces are exploding again, with shows like “Heated Rivalry” becoming comfort obsessions and bringing the chaotic, hyper-online energy of 2016 Tumblr.
But calling 2026 “the new 2016” only because things feel fun ignores reality.
The year has already brought political tension and unrest, including ongoing controversies surrounding President Donald Trump’s presidency and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Like any year, it’s messy and uncertain, just like 2016 was. Maybe what we’re really missing isn’t the year itself, but how life felt back then.
Before the pandemic, before burnout felt constant, and before every notification carried a sense of pressure about careers, money, or the future.
For a lot of young people trying to figure out adulthood, it’s easier to look backward and pretend things were simpler than to face how complicated the present feels.
Why do we keep looking back?
Posting throwbacks and recreating old trends can be fun. There’s comfort in revisiting old songs, filters, and memes, but nostalgia is both a blessing and a trap.
It can remind you of happy memories or keep you stuck in them.
Treating 2026 like it’s “the new 2016” might feel comforting because it offers an escape from burnout, career pressure, and the constant noise of social media. It’s a form of self-soothing in an overstimulated world.
Still, no year is perfect. Not 2016. Not 2026.
Maybe the goal isn’t to go back at all, but to take what felt good about that time, the joy, the creativity, the looseness, and bring it forward instead.
Because we can’t relive the past, but we can make the present feel a little lighter.