By the end of 2025, much speculation circulated on social media platforms of what the new trends would be for the upcoming year. As 2026 approached, some claimed people should turn to physical media: flip phones, record players, CDs, etc. The majority preferred that everyone return to the year 2016. 

Gen Z has always had a fascination with the year 2016, and older generations have been trying to figure out exactly what was so enticing about the year. As high school students, those who attend OHS were around the ages of five through nine, meaning that the younger side of Gen Z were not even old enough to fully appreciate the year. 

Age, though, is not a huge factor in the reason why 2016 is so prominent. A lot happened during the year of 2016, ranging from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s presidential election, to the phenomenon of fidget spinners. It does not necessarily matter how young or old people were during the year; it is more about the feelings that they had and the memories they made. 

For Gen Z especially, 2016 has accumulated a sort of nostalgia that other years have not yet been able to replicate on such a large scale. People may have had better years individually, but as a collective, 2016 represents a year of being carefree.

A 10-year gap between 2016 and 2026 allows Gen Z to reflect on how much has changed during that time. The oldest of Gen Z are currently around 28, and they themselves were in high school during 2016. Since Gen Z were children and adolescents in 2016, the 10-year difference represents the end of their childhood and the start of a new chapter. 

That is why many have decided that 2026 should be the “new” 2016: to return to the good old (halcyon) days. Gen Z had loads of fun in 2016, using the dog filter on Snapchat, watching the first season of Stranger Things, having one too many Starbucks Frappuccinos, and listening to Beyoncé’s Lemonade for the first time. 

2016 was a monumental year, and ever since then, the fun times have sort of dwindled for Gen Z. They started getting jobs, furthering their education, and finding out what they wanted to do in life. Also, with the COVID-19 pandemic and all the other drastic world events that have happened in the span of 10 years, Gen Z was longing for a return to the past; 2026 was the perfect opportunity to do so. 

Even though, as a society, one should not want to live in the past, and should be focusing on the future instead, it is nice to be nostalgic for a year they cannot get back. People have posted throwback photos and videos of their life in 2016, and seeing the growth both internally and externally is fascinating. 

So much can happen in 10 years, and with this spectacle of longing for 2016, Gen Z is not only able to reminisce on their childhood but also look to the future. Whether it depicts a stellar year of pop culture, a time for fun and carelessness, or a childhood one can never return to, the meaning of 2016 is up to everyone individually, and how they embrace it is in their own hands.