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Why Are People Posting Photos From 2016?
Millennials and older Gen Z use Instagram and TikTok to revisit 2016 aesthetics and music as a comforting break amid current anxieties, with Snapchat 2016 lens searches up 613%.
- Instagram and TikTok users are flooding feeds with 2016 throwback photos and aesthetics, a trend that bubbled up over the past few weeks, reported on January 15, 2026.
- Experts say nostalgia rises when people face anxiety about the future, with Kar Brulhart linking 2016’s trend to analogue comforts and Clay Routledge noting millennials and older Gen Z’s tech-driven anxieties.
- Makeup artist and beauty influencer James Charles revived a 2016 cut-crease routine on Wednesday with about 5.6 million views, while Kylie Jenner's 2016 post earned over 2.4 million likes and Reformation reposted celebrity 2016 images.
- Increased searches and platform changes are prompting creators toward nostalgia, with Snapchat reporting Dog Lens searches up 352% and 2016 music searches up 621%, driven by heavier platform algorithms.
- Younger users recall 2016 as their 'last great summer' while millennials crave the 'innocence, promise, and naivety' of their summer 2016 selves, fueling the internet's 'nostalgia bomb'.
Insights by Ground AI
15 Articles
15 Articles
‘2026 is the new 2016’: From Snapchat filters to glossy makeup, why everyone is suddenly posting decade-old pictures
According to the BBC, TikTok searches for “2016” jumped by over 450% in the first week of January alone, while millions of videos using vintage-style filters inspired by the era have flooded the app.
·India
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Why the millennials are yearning for 2016 all over Instagram
People are taking to Instagram to reminisce 2016 in all its fishnet-stocking glory.Melodie Jeng/Getty Images2016 is so back — at least on Instagram.Millennials are putting up pictures of themselves from a decade ago, in all their winged eyeliner glory.Social media experts say people are posting out of nostalgia for an easier, more authentic time.Get in, loser, we're going back to 2016.Open Instagram this week, and you'd think you were back in th…
·United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left6Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Left
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources lean Left
60% Left
L 60%
C 40%
Factuality
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