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The year is 2016. Somehow it feels carefree, driven by internet culture. Everyone is wearing over-the-top makeup.<\/p>\n
At least, that\u2019s how Maren N\u00e6vdal, 27, remembers it \u2014 and has seen it on her social feeds in recent days.<\/p>\n
For Njeri Allen, also 27, the year was defined by the artists topping the charts that year, from\u00a0Beyonce\u00a0to Drake to Rihanna\u2019s last music releases. She also remembers the\u00a0Snapchat\u00a0stories and an unforgettable summer with her loved ones. \u201cEverything felt new, different, interesting and fun,\u201d Allen says.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0social media, kicking off one of the first viral trends of the year \u2014 the year 2026, that is.<\/p>\n
With it have come the memes about how various factors \u2014 the sepia hues over Instagram photos, the dog filters on Snapchat and the music \u2014 made even 2016\u2019s worst day feel like the best of times.<\/p>\n
Part of the look-back trend\u2019s popularity has come from the realization that 2016 was already a decade ago \u2013 a time when N\u00e6vdal says she felt like people were doing \u201cfun, unserious things\u201d before having to grow up.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 such as developments under\u00a0U.S. President Donald Trump\u00a0and the\u00a0rise of AI\u00a0\u2014 have increased a yearning for even the recent past, and made it easier to get there.<\/p>\n
Nostalgia is often driven by a generation coming of age \u2014 and its members realizing they miss what childhood and adolescence felt like. That\u2019s certainly true here. But some of those indulging in the online journeys through time say something more is at play as well.<\/p>\n
It has to do with the state of the world \u2014 then and now.<\/p>\n
By the end of 2016, people would be looking ahead to moments like Trump\u2019s first presidential term and repercussions of the United Kingdom leaving the EU after the\u00a0Brexit referendum. A few years after that, the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic\u00a0would send most of the world into lockdown and upend life for nearly two years.<\/p>\n
Janelle Wilson, a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, says the world was \u201con the cusp of things, but not fully thrown into the dark days that were to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nostalgia being expressed now, for 2016, is due in large part to what has transpired since then,\u201d she says, also referencing the rise of populism and increased\u00a0polarization. \u201cFor there to be nostalgia for 2016 in the present,\u201d she added, \u201cI still think those kinds of transitions are significant.\u201d<\/p>\n
For N\u00e6vdal, 2016 \u201cwas before a lot of the things we\u2019re dealing with now.\u201d She loved seeing \u201chow embarrassing everyone was, not just me,\u201d in the photos people have shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt more authentic in some ways,\u201d she says. Today, N\u00e6vdal says, \u201cthe world is going downhill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina van Volkinburg, a professor of strategic fashion marketing at University of the Arts, London, says 2016 marked the beginning of \u201ca new world order\u201d and of \u201cfractured trust in institutions and the establishment.\u201d She says it also represented a time of possibility \u2014 and, on social media, \u201cthe maximalism of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was represented in the bohemian fashion popularized in\u00a0Coachella\u00a0that year, the \u201ccut crease\u201d makeup N\u00e6vdal loved and the dance music Allen remembers.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were new to platforms and online trends, so were having fun with their identity,\u201d van Volkinburg says. \u201cThere was authenticity around that.\u201d<\/p>\n
And 2016 was also the year of the \u201cboss babe\u201d and the popularity of\u00a0millennial pink, van Volkinburg says, indications of young people coming into adulthood in a year that felt hopeful.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Ten years on, having moved again to\u00a0Taiwan, she said \u201cunprecedented things are happening\u201d in the world. \u201cBoth of my homes are not safe,\u201d she said of the U.S. and Taiwan, \u201cit\u2019s easier to go back to a time that\u2019s more comfortable and that you felt safe in.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the last few days, N\u00e6vdal decided to hide the social media apps on her phone. AI was a big part of that decision. \u201cIt freaks me out that you can\u2019t tell what\u2019s real anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019ve come off of social media, I feel that at least now I know the things I\u2019m seeing are real,\u201d she added, \u201cwhich is quite terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The revival of\u00a0vinyl record collections,\u00a0letter writing\u00a0and a fresh focus on\u00a0the aesthetics of yesterday\u00a0point to nostalgia continuing to dominate trends and culture. Wilson says the feeling has increased as technology makes nostalgia more accessible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can so readily access the past or, at least, versions of it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re to the point where we can say, \u2019Remember last week when we were doing XYZ? That was such a good time!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Both N\u00e6vdal and Allen described themselves as nostalgic people. N\u00e6vdal said she enjoys looking back to old photos \u2013 especially when they show up as \u201cOn This Day\u201d updates on her phone, She sends them to friends and family when their photos come up.<\/p>\n
Allen wished that she documented more of her 2016 and younger years overall, to reflect on how much she has evolved and experienced since.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what life could be,\u201d she said of that time. \u201cI would love to be able to capture my thought process and my feelings, just to know how much I have grown.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Twentysomethings #discover #nostalgia #throwing #carefree #time #dark #days<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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