Instagram's 2016 Throwback Fever: Nostalgia Amid a Grim Timeline

Two weeks into 2026, many on Instagram are posting throwbacks to 2016, chasing the era’s uncurated, playful vibe from pre-curated feeds and memes like the Mannequin Challenge and early VSCO edits. The piece argues the appeal partly reflects a craving for carefree online life and a sense of cultural memory from that year (Obama in office, Lemonade era, memes), but it also recalls that 2016 was filled with real horrors—Trump’s election, the Zika outbreak, terrorist attacks, Brexit, and domestic injustices—so the nostalgia trend mixes comfort with painful memories. The author concedes nostalgia can feel uplifting but warns against portraying 2016 as “the best year ever.”