LONDON -- The year is 2016.Somehow it feels carefree, driven by internet culture.Everyone is wearing over-the-top makeup.
At least, that’s how Maren Nævdal, 27, remembers it — and has seen it on her social feeds in recent days.For Njeri Allen, also 27, the year was defined by the artists topping the charts that year, from Beyonce to Drake to Rihanna’s last music releases.She also remembers the Snapchat stories and an unforgettable summer with her loved ones.
“Everything felt new, different, interesting and fun,” Allen says.Many people, particularly those in their 20s and 30s, are thinking about 2016 these days.Over the past few weeks, millions have been sharing throwback photos to that time on social media, kicking off one of the first viral trends of the year — the year 2026, that is.But experts point to 2016 as a year when the world was on the edge of the social, political and technological developments that make up our lives today.Those same advances — such as developments under U.S.
President Donald Trump and the rise of AI — have increased a yearning for even the recent past, and made it easier to get there.It has to do with the state of the world — then and now.By the end of 2016, people would be looking ahead to moments like Trump’s first presidential term and repercussions of the United Kingdom leaving the EU after the Brexit referendum.A few years after that, the COVID-19 pandemic would send most of the world into lockdown and upend life for nearly two years.
“The nostalgia being expressed now, for 2016, is due in large part to what has transpired since then,” she says, also referencing the rise of populism and increased polarization.“For there to be nostalgia for 2016 in the present,” she added, “I still think those kinds of transitions are significant.”For Nævdal, 2016 “was before a lot of the things we’re dealing with now." She loved seeing “how embarrassing everyone was, not just me,” in the photos people have shared.“It felt more authentic in some ways,” she says.Today, Nævdal says, “the world is going downhill."Popular ReadsMinneapolis live updates: 'We can always do better,' Noem says2 hours agoOmar says Trump's 'hateful rhetoric' causes threats against her to 'skyrocket'Jan 28, 9:14 PMMinneapolis ICE shooting updates: Over 3,000 arrested in Minnesota, DHS saysJan 18, 2:39 PMNina van Volkinburg, a professor of strategic fashion marketing at University of the Arts, London, says 2016 marked the beginning of “a new world order” and of “fractured trust in institutions and the establishment." She says it also represented a time of possibility — and, on social media, “the maximalism of it all.”This was represented in the bohemian fashion popularized in Coachella that year, the “cut crease” makeup Nævdal loved and the dance music Allen remembers.
“People were new to platforms and online trends, so were having fun with their identity,” van Volkinburg says.“There was authenticity around that.”Allen remembers that as the summer she and her friends came of age as high school graduates.She says they all knew then that they would remember 2016 forever.In the last few days, Nævdal decided to hide the social media apps on her phone.
AI was a big part of that decision.“It freaks me out that you can’t tell what’s real anymore,” she said.The revival of vinyl record collections, letter writing and a fresh focus on the aesthetics of yesterday point to nostalgia continuing to dominate trends and culture.
Wilson says the feeling has increased as technology makes nostalgia more accessible.“We can so readily access the past or, at least, versions of it,” she said.“We’re to the point where we can say, ’Remember last week when we were doing XYZ? That was such a good time!’”Allen wished that she documented more of her 2016 and younger years overall, to reflect on how much she has evolved and experienced since.“I didn’t know what life could be,” she said of that time.
“I would love to be able to capture my thought process and my feelings, just to know how much I have grown.”
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