It’s a repeat of 2016 on Instagram. If only it truly was.

Recently, there’s been an increasing sense of nostalgia for 2016. Chance Townsend shared on Mashable how Gen Z feels particularly nostalgic about 2016 as the last positive year. It may not have seemed that amazing back then, but for Gen Z, it marked their last significant summer.

In many respects, it feels as if we’ve been living in late 2016 for ten years — the political environment, the way social media morphed into real life, and crisis after crisis.

Currently, the internet is experiencing a surge of nostalgia for 2016. This follows a trend observed on TikTok earlier this month, blended with individuals wanting to showcase how much they’ve evolved over the last decade. Just like in 2016, we’re bringing back the humblebrag and self-deprecating-but-not-really posts. As with most trends, it transitioned from the youth on TikTok to the everyday users and celebrities on Instagram, who predominantly use it as an opportunity to share decade-old photo archives. (Remember Snapchat filters?)

To clarify, 2016 wasn’t all that wonderful. It was rather disconcerting to embark on a career while witnessing the disruption of the world order due to elections, Brexit, celebrity passings, and a climate agreement that seemed impossible to uphold.

Yet, things often appear brighter in retrospect. And it’s delightful to share images of your younger self, so innocent and oblivious to what lay ahead. Let’s hope, however, that 2026 doesn’t seem