Why some people want to go back to 2016

Although we've officially entered 2026, some people are still reminiscing about 2016.

Pokémon Go, "Stranger Things," and "Hamilton" are some of the major pop culture moments conjured up in people's brains when they think of 2016, a year pivotal to many and nostalgic for others. It's the year that saw everything from clown sightings and the first-time election of President Donald Trump to viral trends and videos that took over the internet, like the Mannequin Challenge and Chewbacca Mom.

Now, ten years later, the year is still remembered as one of significance across generations. But where some people see a year that changed the world for the worse, others see it through rose-colored glasses. That's evident on Google, where if you type "Why is 2016" in the search bar, the fill-in responses include "Why is 2016 the best year," "Why is 2016 so popular," and "Why is 2016 so nostalgic."

Some psychologists say the answer could lie in people's age group and experiences during that year.

'2026 is the new 2016'

The calendar might say 2026, but some people on social media aren't acknowledging it. The new year ushered in a new trend on TikTok where users post pictures from 10 years ago alongside words like "Happy 2016," "Wake up it's 2016," "It's officially 2016," and "2026 is the new 2016."

Some people are using the new year to call for a 2016 renaissance, while others have been wishing for the year's return long before the clock struck midnight. Videos have circulated on social media platforms like TikTok for years, hoping 2016's vibes, memes and culture would return.

Multiple videos from 2025 have gained attention, captioned "petition to bring back every single dance from 2016," "you're right I would like to go back to a 2016 house party," and "I wish I was a teenager in 2016," having thousands of likes.

Why do people feel nostalgic for 2016?

Nostalgia can be triggered by anything, but the internal psychological triggers of nostalgia tend to be negative emotions like stress, loneliness, or anxiety. People feel stress or anxiety and become nostalgic for times past as a way to both comfort and inspire themselves, Clay Routledge, an existential psychologist, told USA TODAY.

There's a link between the serious events in the world and the pop culture occurring at the same time. People often turn to different sources for inspiration and energy at those moments of anxiety and distress, he added. Similar to saving pennies for a rainy day, people are able to look back and draw from past experiences as resources that are fun, fulfilling, meaningful and energizing.

"A lot of that stuff is pop cultural that seems like, oh, that's just silly to watch old movies or to play old video games or listen to old music, but in reality, engaging in that type of stuff improves our well-being and motivates us and that can help us in the more serious [moments]," Routledge said.

The calm before the (political) storm

The year 2016 was full of both historical and pop culture moments.

It included historical moments that have since shaped the United States and world, including the deaths of multiple public figures and the election of Trump as president. While there have always been political divisions in the United States, some point to the end of 2016 as a key moment when politics became more intense, leading to feelings of nostalgia, Routledge said.

The tie between politics and 2016 plays a strong role in people's feelings about the year, said Jean Twenge, psychologist and author of "Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents‒ and What They Mean for America’s Future."

For those who opposed intensifying political divisions following the 2016 election, the year can feel like the calm before the storm, Twenge said.

"For a lot of people, you look back on that summer of 2016 as like the summer of innocence, like the summer before everything changed," Twenge said of the political atmosphere in the United States. "The summer of 2016 feels like Sept. 10, 2001, the moment before everything changed, the time when we didn't realize how good things actually were."

While that might be a sentiment shared by 2016 appreciators, it's not necessarily a true representation of the cultural shift that year. Politically and socially, things had already started to change into what we see now culturally, Twenge added.

Age, social media plays role in 2016 nostalgia

Social media can also contribute to 2016 nostalgia, as platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Musical.ly became popular in the 2010s.

Some of the more "toxic" social media shifts present today started before 2016 and ramped up after the year's end, Twenge said. From 2014 to 2017, adults 18-34 saw increased rates of depression that could be linked to people using more social media and spending less time face-to-face with others.

Similar to the shift in political atmosphere, social media culture may have also shifted following 2016. In some present-day videos and posts, people attribute the 2016 nostalgia to the easy-going nature of social media at the time, which differs from the commercialization some feel has taken over platforms.

"Make Instagram casual again," proclaims one video.

"The generation that was in high school in the mid 2010s...We were truly in the sweet spot of social media where we had it, but it didn’t run our lives like it does today," said the TikTok user in a post with over 12,000 likes.

“It really does suck that the only people posting online these days are companies or people trying to make money because I miss so dearly when like everyone from my high school would post once a quarter at least, once a holiday," another user said in a video with over 19,000 likes.

The year also saw a physical change in Instagram's structure, with the app updating its longstanding, realistic camera logo to the multicolored, minimalistic one users see today when they use the app.

Beyond that, your age in 2016 can also impact how you remember and feel about the year, especially if you were a young adult at the time, she said.

"For that certain age group, it's nostalgia for childhood and early adolescence, not necessarily for that particular year," Twenge said.

Psychologically, this is known as a reminiscence bump, Routledge said. People tend to favor their childhood and adolescent memories more, and for those who were teenagers or young adults in 2016, the year might hold more weight.

"We can be nostalgic for any time and we often are," Routledge said. "We collect memories throughout our lives that we can draw from at any point in time... but we tend to privilege memories from our youth."

For Routledge, the nostalgia and admiration people continue to feel for 2016 highlight how the year was useful in some way. It's OK to look back on the past fondly, he added.

"Even though people might be saying, 'hey, I'm looking to 2016 nostalgically,' what they're really saying is... 'there's something about 2016 that can help me approach 2026,'" Routledge said. "What's happening in the brain is how we're using nostalgia as this self-regulatory resource to move forward with some sense of confidence and direction."

Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @katecperez_.