Why Everyone Is Sharing Their 2016 Throwbacks Online and How It Affects Your Digital Footprint

The first weeks of 2026 have kicked off a wave of online nostalgia. Across social media, people are rewinding the clock with grainy filters, old selfies, and captions declaring that “2026 is the new 2016.”

On TikTok, interest in “2016” surged sharply at the start of the year. Searches for the year jumped by more than 450% in the first week of January, with tens of millions of videos created using a hazy, lo-fi filter inspired by the era. Spotify saw a 71% increase in 2016-themed playlists in 2025 compared to the year before, as artists who dominated that period climbed the charts again, according to the BBC*.

A throwback trend is also a reminder of how easily people share personal information when the internet feels fun and safe, even though it hasn’t worked that way for a long time.

Where the 2016 nostalgia comes from

Part of it is timing, as 2016 marks a neat ten-year gap,  far enough back to feel nostalgic.

Psychologist Clay Routledge, who has studied nostalgia for more than two decades, says spikes like this usually appear during periods of uncertainty. When the future feels unstable, because of rapid technological change, economic pressure, or social shifts, people tend to look backward for emotional grounding. Certain years become “anchors,” because they mark a time before the current complexity set in.

Joel Marlinarson, 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, points out that social media itself felt less performative at the time: fewer formats, fewer metrics to chase, and less algorithm-driven pressure.

You’re increasing your digital footprint in a very different internet

Ten years ago, online risks were different: scams were easier to recognize, phishing emails were clumsy, full of spelling mistakes, and unrealistic — remember the “Prince of Nigeria” writing about an unexpected fortune? You didn’t need to second-guess a familiar voice or a video that sounded and looked exactly like someone you knew.

Before you let nostalgia carry you away, think about your shares from this perspective, too: you feed a system that is even hungrier for your data than it was 8 in 2016. That’s especially true when posts are framed as “then vs now.”

• Photos can reveal exact locations (street signs, landmarks, check-ins, geotags, venue logos) and sensitive identifiers (car plates, boarding passes, tickets, ID badges, mail with addresses, school uniforms, company lanyards), making it easier to map where you lived, studied, or spent time.
• Background details can expose routines (school runs, gym times, commute patterns, favorite cafés), which are valuable to stalkers and social engineers.
• Throwbacks often bring other people back into the spotlight, including children or friends who didn’t consent then and wouldn’t consent now — creating real-world privacy issues.
• Old posts can reveal answers to common security questions, such as hometowns, first jobs, favorite teachers, or pets.
• Reposting makes content “fresh” again for scraping. Public photos are easier for data brokers, scammers, and impersonators to collect and reuse.
• Face-heavy throwbacks add material that can be used for fake profiles, catfishing, or AI-generated impersonation, especially when multiple images span different ages.
• Tagging friends and locations helps scammers build relationship maps: who you know, who you trust, where you go — making targeted phishing more convincing.
• Comment sections can quickly become a risk. Trend posts attract fake accounts pushing malicious links, fake giveaways, or “DM me” scams.

Related:

• What Is Your Digital Footprint?
• Five Easy Steps to Shrink Your Online Footprint

Oversharing? See your digital footprint and decide what comes next

No protection tool can save you from oversharing, that has always been a human decision, and it hasn’t changed since 2016. What has changed is the online world and how easily your data can now be collected, combined, and reused.

Before joining trends that expand your digital footprint, it helps to know where you already stand. Use our free Digital Footprint Checker, and find out if your personal information is exposed through old accounts, public profiles, or past data breaches.

The next decision is about what you share going forward and how safely you do it. Bitdefender Premium VPN helps you reduce tracking, limit location exposure, and protect your connection as you browse, scroll, and post. 

You’re now wiser than in 2016, having lived a decade-long digital life in the meantime.

Consider Bitdefender Premium VPN for an extra layer of privacy as you browse. 

Source: bbc, independent.co.uk