Key Highlights
- And is there anything special about the year 2016 specifically?Lauren RedfernRadio 1 DJ Lauren Redfern, pictured in 2016, was a teenager at the timeMusic has been a big driver of the 2016 revival, and some of the most popular tracks of the year have been making a comeback online. Radio 1 Anthems host Lauren Redfern tells BBC Newsbeat it's not hard to see why."It's just so so good, that music from that time, and so nostalgic to so many of us," she says."We had Zayn's debut solo single Pillow Talk, Chainsmokers were really hot at that time."Twenty One Pilots, The 1975 - it was all going on."Stats from Spotify show a 71% increase in "2016" playlists last year compared with 2024, and big-hitting artists have also been making a comeback. Zara Larsson's smash hit Lush Life, which first entered the charts 10 years ago, re-entered the UK top 40 last month and has since climbed back up to number eight. The Swedish pop sensation has also been behind a make-up trend focused on maximal, glam "Y2K" looks, and that's something Lauren remembers fondly from 2016."It was all the mad colours," she says.
- "The eye shadow was bright pink.
- I used to love a big, thick winged eyeliner as well."I still like to pull that out every now and then."Coldest CreativeJoel Marlinarson, who advises brands on social media strategy, says 2016 evokes a simpler time in the minds of manyJoel Marlinarson, from London, is a TikTok creator and brand strategist whose video explaining why Gen Z is so obsessed with 2016 has been viewed more than a million times. The 22-year-old tells Newsbeat the year has become its own aesthetic on TikTok, thanks largely to the dedicated filter, which he says has helped to accelerate the trend. It gives videos a vintage, pink-hued look that's reminiscent of classic Instagram photo effects "everyone used" in 2016, says Joel."So without using words, be it somebody in France, be it someone in Germany, seeing that filter you're instantly taken back to a time when we were having so much fun and were so much younger," he says. Joel says the rosy hues also evoke a simpler time on social media, which played a big part in young people's lives but was far less complex."Looking at Instagram, around 2016, there was no carousel posts," says Joel.
- "People were posting a picture of their avocado, and it wasn't so performative."There weren't short-form reels, so there wasn't that algorithmic kind of fatigue that people have now."This is something Lauren, 26, says she can relate to."To be honest, 2016 was the year of Snapchat stories," she says.
- "If I go back through my Snapchat memories, it's pretty much all from 2016."Instagram was all about photos, we didn't have to worry about Reels, we didn't have to worry about updating our stories all the time.
