With all the talk of Brexit, do you ever get the sense that social media is stuck in 2016? Well, now it really is. A trend has taken off online involving people posting throwback pictures from a decade ago. A Tumblr video captioned ‘Welcome back #2016’ kicked off the nostalgia. It has resulted in a 450 per cent surge in ‘2016’ searches across platforms, as those born between 1997-2002 share photos, songs like Drake’s ‘Views’ and Pokemon Go memories.

A Tumblr video captioned ‘Welcome back #2016’ kicked off the nostalgia

The year 2016 is being described as one in which pop culture peaked. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about those 12 months is how little has changed in the decade since. While younger folk wish they were back in that simpler, pre-pandemic era, here’s the truth: they never really left.

To anybody now over, say, 45 years old, 2016 surely feels like last week. It’s a cliché that time passes very differently for the individual as he ages, speeding up as the years clock up. But it’s one of those clichés that we don’t think about enough. This 2016 nostalgia trend pulls it into the sharpest relief.

Because one is young for what feels like geological ages, and then – particularly after one whizzes like a non-stopping express train past what might (fingers crossed) be........

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