Why is the internet pining for 2016? | Star News – Otago Daily Times

By Nicky Park of RNZ Listening to Justin Bieber, perfecting your pout for the “dog filter”, and casting a purplish haze over your pictures – why is the internet pining for the past? In 2016, Drake and Justin Bieber topped our playlists. In New Zealand Broods and Six60 were turned up. It was the winter of Pokemon Go, faces were done up with matte makeup and Kylie lip kits. We copied Coachella outfits, wore flower crowns, used oversaturation on our selfies and played around with the “dog filter” on Snapchat. There was no such thing as “doomscrolling” or “brain rot” or “enshitification”. In 2026, social media is filled with images reflecting on our lives 10 years ago. Where did the idea come from? What is it about 2016 that we’re all clinging on to? Why is 2016 all over my social media? TikTok and Instagram users are reposting their favourite pictures from 2016 or taking new selfies and videos using TikTok’s “2016” filter, which mimics the hazy, pinkish-purple tint of the early images we uploaded. In New Zealand, interest in ‘#2016’ content has surged to its peak in recent weeks, according to TikTok Creative Center analytics. Over the past three years, around 3000 TikTok posts including ‘#2016’ have been
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