As a welcome to 2026, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube users and influencers are dialing it back to 2016 – the drinks, fashion, music, and the style of media – a time when everything was colorful and full of life.

That year was full of bright colors, fun music, and – most importantly – everyone was having a fun time with their friends. The year also is being remembered for how fun and free everyone felt at the time.

People who were teens and young adults during 2016 miss the humor from that time, such as the petty Skai Jackson meme captioned, “when you’re cheating on a test and your teacher is walking around.” Or The Bee Movie where the video is sped up whenever a certain word is said.

Zara Larson’s 2015 hit song, “Lush Life” has taken over TikTok with the catchy lyrics and fun dance. Many people on social media believe she’s the face of summer and 2016.

In 2016, the proto app Vine started to wane in popularity due to Instagram and Music.ly gaining more popularity. Recently, the video style of those apps are popping up on platforms like TikTok.

Many people have hopped on the trend of posting videos of themselves in 2016. Former America’s Got Talent contestant, and famous contortionist Sofie Dossi posted some of her best contortion pictures from 2026, with a caption of “2026 is the new 2016.”

At JHop, scholars recognize that 2016 is back but they’re not diving all in.

Serenity Ruoff, an eighth-grader, said she really liked the fashion of 2016, but she doesn’t want to wear them.

“I think it was super popular and really interesting, and now days people are a lot more basic with the stuff that they wear,” she said.