Is It 2016 Again? Why This Year Feels Like a Glitch in the Timeline

If you’ve been online recently, you might have noticed something strange.

(I hate the term Gen Z. It feels like a marketing demographic rather than an actual identity. But, reluctantly, for the sake of this publication, I’ll use it—just know I’m saying it with a deep sigh.)

Everything feels like 2016 again. The TikTok dance challenges, the music, the chaotic yet carefree energy—it’s all eerily familiar, like the internet collectively decided to rewind time and replay one of its most culturally defining years.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t just a random trend cycle. Something about this moment feels different. Like Gen Z isn’t just nostalgically borrowing from 2016—they’re actively trying to recreate it. And maybe that’s because, for many, 2016 was the last year everything felt fun.

So, let’s talk about it!

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2016: The Year That Won’t Die

What is it about 2016 that keeps pulling us back?

For starters, it was the golden age of internet culture. Vine was thriving, meme culture was at its absolute peak, and social media still felt like a playground rather than an algorithmic nightmare. People weren’t obsessed with engagement metrics or aesthetic perfection—they were just posting.

Music was having a moment, too. “One Dance” was on repeat, SoundCloud rap was booming, and pop music was in its peak radio-dominance era. Every house party had the same rotation of Rihanna, The Chainsmokers, and Drake, and no one complained.

Even the chaos was different. Sure, 2016 had its share of political and cultural shifts, but it didn’t feel apocalyptic. It was a time when the world was changing, but it hadn’t yet completely unraveled. There was an innocence to it. A sense that we were still on the edge of something, rather than in the middle of the mess.

Now, almost a decade later, Gen Z is trying to claw that feeling back.

(Let’s be clear—I still hate the term Gen Z. Every time I type it, I feel like I’m filling out a corporate trend report rather than talking about real people. But unfortunately, there’s no better shorthand for our generation, so here we are. Begrudgingly.)

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The Return of 2016, But Make It 2025

It’s not just a vague vibe shift—the signs are everywhere.

• TikTok dances are mirroring Vine-era choreography. The moves, the energy, even the types of songs people are choosing feel straight out of 2016. It’s less about polished perfection and more about chaotic fun—which is exactly how dance trends felt back then.

• Music is echoing the same feelings. The biggest songs right now are leaning into upbeat, feel-good production, nostalgic samples, and pop-R&B crossovers—the exact formula that dominated the 2016 charts.

• The internet is leaning into randomness again. Absurd humor, chaotic meme formats, and a rejection of hyper-curated feeds? That’s 2016 Tumblr and Twitter energy all over again.

But here’s what’s different this time: there’s an awareness that this is a recreation. It’s not just a natural trend cycle—it’s an intentional attempt to bring back a time that felt better.

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Why Are We Trying to Go Back?

It’s easy to say nostalgia always comes back around—but this feels deeper than just a 10-year trend cycle. This is a cultural coping mechanism.

• The past few years have been exhausting. A pandemic, economic crises, political instability—the world has been in survival mode since 2020. It makes sense that people are drawn to a year that feels like the last time things were carefree.

• We’re craving simplicity. Social media in 2016 wasn’t about building a personal brand—it was about posting whatever felt fun. The internet felt spontaneous, unserious, and alive.

• Gen Z never really got their own cultural moment. So much of their formative years were shaped by global crises, social media pressure, and hyper-awareness of everything wrong with the world.Recreating 2016 is, in some ways, a way of reclaiming their version of youthful fun.

So, it’s not really just about aesthetics. It’s about rewriting the past to fit the present.

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2016, But This Time It’s Different

Despite the clear parallels, 2025 isn’t actually 2016. The internet isn’t as simple, music isn’t consumed the same way, and culture moves way faster than it did back then. But what is different this time is that there’s a collective awareness that we’re reaching for something we can’t fully recreate.

Maybe this is less about going back and more about fixing what we lost.

The fun, the freedom, the ability to just enjoy things without turning them into discourse—we’re trying to bring those feelings back, even if the world has changed.

And honestly? Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

Unless, of course, this all leads to a full-blown 2016 revival where we start bringing back flower crowns, galaxy print leggings, and people unironically saying “on fleek.” In that case, we have gone too far.