Maddie Prater
eSomethin staff
The social media trend that rebrands 2026 as the new 2016 has rung across everyone’s ears it seems.
Social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest are taking a massive shift towards the growing fad, showcasing 2016’s nostalgic fashion and fun.
Fashion choices like chokers, graphic tees, and wired earbuds are resurfacing online and in stores along with peekaboo hair dye and chunky statement jewelry.
The combination of athletic wear and fashion are also popping up. Yoga pants, joggers, and statement sneakers blend casual-wear with gym clothes.
The trend mainly covers the music, fashion, slang, and overall free-spirited way of life that people remember and charish from that time.
Zara Larson’s timeless song “Lush Life”, Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself”, and many more well-known singers and music styles are showing up in speakers again, with billions of streams on Spotify and Apple Music.
People are posting old photos and videos, with polaroids and digital cameras coming back into style.
Ada Findling, a freshman at PHS, shares her opinion on the trend.
“I’m excited for this summer. I hope it’s like 2016,” she said. “Me and my friends were so happy when we heard about it.”
Emma Brundage, another student at the high school, also gives her side to the story.
“I miss 2016. Even though I was six,” Brundage laughs. “I’m jealous of people that were teenagers at that time. Hopefully we get that chance again.”
Trends usually resurface around a decade after they first go viral, meaning it’s prime time for the 2016 vibes to swing back around. Many teens are looking at this blast from the past with a hopeful eye and eager to play along.
With the trend being most popular in Gen Z and Millennials, it flourished immediately from feed to fad.
Already we’re seeing a rise in memes and a more color-filled lifestyle on pages; complete with the universal songs that you can sing along with in the car with your friends.
As this year moves forward, we’ll just have to see if this trend makes it to the end.
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