You Can’t Escape the 2016 Nostalgia — And Honestly, Why Would You Want To?

Everyone knows about that 2016 feeling.

Even if we can’t fully explain it, we all collectively agree: 2016 was unmatched. It was a year full of music. The internet was fun. The styles were unique. Everything felt a little louder, a little clearer — which is funny, considering we had some kind of filter on everything.

I was 14 in 2016. My biggest responsibilities were school, cheer practice and remembering to send my Snapchat streaks every single day. Not bills. Not networking. Not building a brand. Just making sure that little fire emoji didn’t disappear next to someone’s name.

And somehow, that year just felt different.

Maybe it was the music. Actually, it was definitely the music.

2016 was a year of iconic drops: Beyoncé, Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West. But if I had to pick one song that captured the entire feeling of that year, it would be “One Dance.” And that’s not just personal opinion. In October 2016, CBS News dedicated an article to the song, highlighting how it dominated charts worldwide and was named Spotify’s Song of the Summer. The outlet also reported that “One Dance” became the most-streamed song in Spotify’s history at the time, racking up roughly 880 million streams that year alone — a record that underscored just how inescapable it was in 2016.

And then there was Instagram.

It’s hard to believe that at the beginning of 2016, Instagram Stories didn’t even exist. Now you can’t open the app without immediately clicking through someone’s story. It feels automatic. Second nature. That alone shows how different Instagram — and social media in general — is now.

Back then, it felt lighter and less calculated. We had TBHs and rates. Comment “TBH,” and suddenly you’re telling someone, “we don’t talk but you’re so nice!! rate 8.” And as we can see from everyone posting their 2016 throwback carousels, we were literally just posting anything. My page was full of selfies I took in the back of the car and pretty much whatever I felt like sharing. And don’t let it be my friend’s birthday, because they were getting posted — ON THE FEED.

The memes were elite. The mannequin challenge had entire classrooms frozen mid-pose. The bottle flip challenge had us launching water bottles across cafeteria tables like it was a competitive sport. “Evil Kermit” was constantly narrating our inner thoughts. And let’s not forget Vine — the six-second app that somehow produced some of the funniest, most quotable internet moments of the decade before it disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived.

And if it feels like everyone is suddenly talking about 2016 again, it’s because they are. According to a recent Forbes article citing data from TikTok, nostalgia for 2016 is surging. The hashtag #2016 increased more than 450% in the United States, while searches for “2016 songs” and “2016 makeup” rose sharply in early January compared with the previous period.

This nostalgia goes deeper than just the year itself.

Because when we say we miss 2016, we’re not just talking about streaks or bottle flips or filters. We’re talking about a time that felt simpler in ways we didn’t fully appreciate at the time. 

2016 wasn’t perfect. No year is. But it felt full. Full of music. Full of memes. Full of moments that didn’t feel like they were trying so hard.

We didn’t know we were living in a year we’d romanticize a decade later.

But here we are.

Because 2016 wasn’t just a year.

It was a feeling.