Overview
- Media reports cite BBC figures showing a sharp spike in TikTok interest, with 2016 searches up 452% in a week, more than 55 million videos using a rose‑tinted filter, and about 1.7 million #2016 posts.
- Participation spans millennials and Gen Z, and visibility has been boosted by posts from figures such as Billie Eilish, Kylie Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Bianca Balti and Aurora Ramazzotti.
- Users are reviving 2016 aesthetics including choker necklaces, flannels, heavy makeup and bold brows, alongside throwback Instagram‑style filters and scenes recalling the Pokémon GO summer.
- Music from that year is back in circulation, with Zara Larsson’s Lush Life returning to the UK top 10 and Spotify reporting a 71% rise in 2016 playlists compared with 2024, according to BBC-cited data.
- Analysts frame the wave as collective nostalgia during a period of rapid change, with 2016 remembered as a simpler-feeling moment despite its political shocks and high‑profile celebrity deaths.