Ten years is a long time. A lifetime can pass by. We change as people, deep in our core. We grow, move, learn, love, lose. Some of us graduated, entered the workforce. Some buy a house. Move across the country or even the world. As each new year approaches, we look back and think about how long a decade really is, how long it feels.
This year, however, is much different. This year, we didn’t move forward, so to speak.
This year, we are back in 2016.
Titled “The Last Good Year” by many, 2016 holds a distinct sense of happiness and joy. We look back with nostalgia at the freedom and genuine carefree air we were all floating in. Previously, a new year brought promises of a fresh start. We attempted to leave behind our hardships and unpleasantries and step into January having shed our old selves. Not this year. We have time-traveled back to an era of childhood whimsy and a delight to exist. We have chosen to forget all the negativity from last year and put our best—and decade-old— foot forward.
Welcome back, 2016! We have truly missed you. And for good reason.
Good-bye 2025, Hello 2016!
The past ten years have held a multitude of changes. We had a global pandemic. A stark shift in global and national politics has impacted us in unfortunate ways. The economy is unfavorable, and our future is uncertain. Music isn’t as it used to be, and every movie is just a remake of a remake or a sequel that was definitely unnecessary. AI has unfavorably overtaken our lives. Social media has gotten significantly serious, past the point of enjoyment. We have all slowly withdrawn ourselves from the world, solely existing through our phones, devoid of community and connections.
But not in 2016. No. 2016 was the birth of everything good for our generation. Fetty Wap was our anthem at the house parties we danced at with our devil-may-care attitudes. We were spamming our timelines with peace signs covering half our faces in our mirror pictures (which, of course, were later overlayed with a filter). We ‘Liked’ for a ‘TBH and Rate,’ and sent Snapchat Streaks like our life depended on it. The new Hunger Games movie was coming out, and a crazy, Strange(r Things) new show overtook our summer.
The 2016 trend of pairing skinny jeans with a clunky, pastel-colored statement necklace epitomized fashion. We wore open-toed strappy heels everywhere, and our eyebrows were always ‘on fleek.’ And, of course, who could forget the sensational green bomber jacket that took residency in every closet. We dabbed and hit the quan. We laughed over silly Vines, blissfully ignorant of what was to come.
And now, a full ten years later, we have returned. Our last few years have put miles on us. Stresses have piled up. The transition from authentic to carefully curated has drained us. We could no longer enjoy the things we once did. But the sun always rises.
We are so back
Fetty Wap was just released from prison. The new Hunger Games movie is slated to be out in November. Our social media timelines are slowly inching towards a more casual setting.
In the final moments of 2025, we were overwhelmed with pessimism and gloomy clouds. Once the clock struck midnight, it was as if a switch was flipped. We have begun to abandon the synthetic environment we have all created. AI is being discarded at high rates. Silly ‘brain-rot’ memes and viral trends are being realized for what they are: dimwitted. Social media users are posting videos with old sounds from 2016 trends. Viral quotes like “what’s nine plus ten (twenty-one)” are coming back from the dead, attempting to be used as an educational tool for younger generations. The Mannequin Challenge is even resurfacing on our pages.
This is not to say we should ignore our reality and simply live in the past now. Quite the opposite. There is a beauty in reliving the peaceful times while simultaneously acknowledging that our lives now will never be what they used to be. We have the ability to go back in time and pick our best moments and transport them to our current reality. One where we know better. Where we have more freedom than we did at 12 or 13 years old.
We are in 2016 again, but we can’t stay here forever. A lifetime has passed by, yet seemingly no time at all.
Did you like 2016? Have you seen the current 2016 trend on social media? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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