If you are on Instagram or TikTok, there is absolutely no doubt that you have seen the trend of people, brands and organizations posting throwback pictures from 2016. Along with seeing the posts from December 2025 saying, “2026 is going to be the next 2016!” The question is, why do we keep coming back to this year and what makes us want to relive it so badly?
Social media
Before TikTok, we had Vine—the platform that would forever change social media. If you walk up to anyone Gen Z and ask them to quote something from Vine, you will most likely get an answer, whether it’s “Look at all of those Chickens!” or “It is Wednesday, my Dudes!”, Vine offered a simpler time of short-form content, described as oversaturated on other social media apps. Vine would end all too soon in most people’s opinions, given its short lifespan of 2013-2016. Although Vine may have had a short lifespan, it made an impact that has now lasted a decade.
Along with memorable Vines, we can look back on our Snapchat memories with photos of us in dog and flower crown pictures; 2016 was a HUGE year for Snapchat, reaching more people than ever before, along with introducing the feature of “memories” and all the iconic filters that we look fondly back upon.
The trends
From Vine and the peak of Snapchat, we saw trends emerge, such as the Mannequin Challenge, where a person or group of people would stand extremely still while being filmed, making everyone look like a mannequin. There was also the Water Bottle Flip Challenge, which disrupted classrooms nationwide. These trends were simple, however extremely memorable, reminding us of simpler times.
The music
You absolutely cannot talk about 2016 without mentioning the music from this era, which is one of the most iconic features. If you go on any music streaming app, you will find playlists specifically made with 2016 songs, created by the platform and for the users; that alone should be a testament to the impact of this “era” of music. In these playlists, you will find hit songs by Twenty One Pilots, Drake, Justin Bieber, Rihana, Sia and the list goes on. Songs like Stressed Out (Twenty One Pilots) or Cheap Thrills (Sia) would play repeatedly on our car radios, making it the soundtrack of the year.
The perfect year
We all look back on moments or years from the past fondly, but 2016 made an impact on an entire generation. It reminds us of a simpler time when we could just be cool by landing a water bottle flip. We had music that created trends and those trends would bond us all together. Our dreams were big and our eyebrow makeup bigger, and 2016 could be the perfect example of 2010’s optimism and we all look for this feeling once again, trying to recreate what some would call the perfect year.