Is it 2026 or 2016? Social media users turn back the clock in viral trend
It's only two weeks into 2026, but social media users are already feeling nostalgic and throwing it back to 2016 in a flurry of trending posts.
The "2026 is the new 2016" trend has many, including celebrities like John Legend and Reese Witherspoon, sharing photos from 10 years ago on Instagram and TikTok and highlighting everything from Snapchat filters and hit songs to the top fashion trends at the time.
“People are really longing for a time that felt simpler, a time that felt really optimistic,” Leah Faye Cooper, journalist and former Vogue editor covering the intersection of culture and fashion, told ABC News.
The #2016 hashtag has already been used in over 1 million posts on TikTok and over 37 million posts on Instagram.
The scale of participation reflects a broader cultural mood, according to Cooper.
“I think nostalgia is something that has been trending for a while now,” she said. “You see it in fashion, you see it with these reboots of TV shows and people remaking movies.”
The trend has also gained momentum as people look back at a time prior to the coronavirus pandemic and before the internet was less powered by algorithms.
Take a trip down memory lane and see what was happening in 2016.
Top 2016 songs
In the spring of 2016, Beyoncé released her second visual album "Lemonade," featuring the hit track "Sorry," which featured the now-famous lyric referencing "Becky with the good hair."
The Chainsmokers released their hit song "Closer," a collaboration with Halsey, in July 2016.
The year's "biggest Hot 100 hit," according to Billboard's ranking, was Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself," which first debuted in November the year prior.
Billboard also named Madonna its "Woman of the Year" in 2016.
Top 2016 pop culture moments
In 2016, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his first Oscar for best actor in a leading role for his work in the epic western drama "The Revenant."
That year, Taylor Swift took home the Grammy Awards for best pop vocal album and album of the year for "1989" and also won a Grammy for best music video for "Bad Blood."
"Hamilton" swept the Tony Awards in 2016 as well, with 11 wins, including for best musical.
In July 2016, the first season of the hit series "Stranger Things" premiered on Netflix. The series recently wrapped up its fifth and final season.
The "mannequin challenge" also swept social media a decade ago, with friend groups and people "freezing" in place for several seconds and sharing photos and video clips of the results online.
In the fashion world, choker necklaces were busy making a chic comeback.
“Things were definitely less curated than they are now,” Cooper said of 2016 fashion, adding that nostalgia for brands like Abercrombie and Juicy Couture continues to trend.
What was happening in 2016?
2016 was a pivotal year in politics as Americans geared up for the presidential election. Although he didn't win the popular vote, Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote that fall, securing his bid for the White House over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
That year, the Zika epidemic arrived in the U.S. amid concerns about the virus's impact on the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
At the Rio Games, over 11,000 U.S. athletes earned 121 medals -- 46 gold medals, 37 silver medals and 38 bronze medals -- across 17 days of competition, according to Team USA. It was the first time the Olympics were held in a South American country.
ABC News' Maria Olloqui contributed to this report.
