2016 called—and celebrities actually picked up – Harper’s Bazaar India

Lo-fi selfies, throwback filters, and Tumblr-era ease are suddenly everywhere… and even the stars are in on it. If you’ve been on the internet recently, you’ve surely been greeted by diagonally shot mirror selfies with a quirky pose in frame. What feels like time-travel is just global ubiquity for 2016-esque photography. We’ve seen the nostalgia for Y2K pick up over the last decade, but the full-blown recall of 2016 might be nodding to a different realm of trend fatigue altogether. In an era defined by relentless trend cycles and algorithmic pressure, nostalgia functions as a counterpoint: a softer emotional register in an otherwise overstimulated present. And even celebrities agree. The Throwback Posts That Say Everything When a year as chaotic as 2025 passed by, with users globally echoing the same sentiment, something is refreshing about the way 2026 is unfolding so far, with less self-seriousness and hope for a fun year ahead. Across social media, creators and celebrities alike are loosening their grip on perfection. Charlie Puth leaned fully into the bit, posting a 2016-era throwback where he’s holding a thick stack of dollar bills to his ear like a phone—peak mid-2010s internet humour. The caption doubled down on the nostalgia, reading:
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