Why the #2016 trend is taking over social media a decade later

Somewhere between a TikTok scroll and an Instagram dump, 2016 quietly made its return. Ten years later, and yet here we are, posting old photos, blurry selfies, badly lit mirror pics, and outfits we once thought were elite. The #2016 trend isn’t loud or forced. It feels tender. Personal. Almost like bumping into an old version of yourself and smiling before asking, “Were we really that young?”

Of course, TikTok started it. It always does. One person shared a throwback, then another, and suddenly timelines were filled with memories we didn’t know we missed this much. The images sparked something familiar, a reminder of a time when social media felt fun, when posts weren’t performances, when you didn’t overthink angles or captions. You just posted because you felt like it.

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@tenhourscreentime I miss tumblr everyday #2016 #2016trend #instagram #millennialoptimism ♬ original sound - tenhourscreentime

And 2016 had a feeling. In South Africa especially, it moved differently. “Ngud” by Kwesta featuring Cassper Nyovest was everywhere. You don’t even need to hear the song to remember it—you can hear that whistle in your head right now. That song alone could stop a conversation, fill a room, start a celebration. It was joy in sound form.

Culturally, we were being fed too. Mohale Mashigo released The Yearning, a debut that felt intimate and brave, digging into memory, trauma, and womanhood in a way that stayed with you long after you closed the book. On screen, Happiness Is a Four-Letter Word gave us romance, friendship, and characters that felt close to home. Stories felt local, relatable, and rooted.

There were moments of pride too, times when the country felt united, when winning felt collective, when celebration was shared. It wasn’t perfect, but there was an ease to how people showed up for life. Looking back now, that ease is what people seem to miss the most.

So people are posting old photos, what they wore, where they were, who they loved, who they thought they were becoming. Not because everything was better, but because something felt lighter. There’s a quiet hope threaded through the trend, a belief that maybe 2026 could be kind in the same way 2016 once was.

@makeupbyalinnaa Loving this 2016 trend omg!! Tutorial? 👀 #2016makeup #2016 #blowthisup #makeup #makeupartist ♬ original sound - Chloe Roberts

But nostalgia isn’t selective, and it shouldn’t be. 2016 also carried tension and resistance. #ZumaMustFall was impossible to ignore, a country demanding change, voices raised, streets filled with frustration and urgency. That too is part of the memory. The joy existed alongside the unrest, the laughter alongside the anger.

Maybe that’s why this trend works. It isn’t pretending 2016 was perfect. It’s just honest. It’s people remembering who they were before life hardened them a little, before the world felt heavier. It’s not about going back, it’s about acknowledging a moment that shaped us.