A viral social media trend encouraging users to treat 2026 like it's 2016 has sparked a backlash, with one prominent millennial content creator branding the movement "stupid".
What is the '2026 is the new 2016' trend?
The trend, which has gained significant traction on platforms like TikTok and Instagram since the start of the year, is a wave of nostalgia for the mid-2010s. It frames 2016 as a "golden age" of internet culture and encourages participants to "live 2026 like it's 2016" to recapture a sense of carefree fun, marking the ten-year anniversary.
Why a millennial influencer is pushing back
Helen McPherson, known for her millennial-focused content to an audience of over 100,000 followers, recently shared a video reel passionately criticising the trend. Speaking directly to the camera, she stated the trend was "invented by young people" and not by millennials or older generations.
"To me, 10 years ago feels like it was 1990," McPherson explained. "I'm not going to post a picture from 2016, it's just literally like the other day. I won't look any different."
She highlighted her own lasting possessions from that era, joking, "I'm wearing a bra that I purchased from Marks & Spencer's in 2016. There are shirts at the bottom of the ironing basket that I haven't touched since 2016. There's not gonna be that much difference."
The case for 2006 nostalgia instead
McPherson argued that the ten-year gap isn't sufficient for genuine nostalgia, especially when you "take five years off for Covid". She believes the trend is simply "young people experiencing their first hit... their first wave of nostalgia".
For her, the true nostalgic peak lies further back. "The year we need to be romanticising right now is 2006," she asserted. "That was the millennial peak. That personally was my peak and stuff was actually different back then. This just isn't enough time."
The influencer humorously described having "millennial age dysmorphia", stating she doesn't "accept the age she is" or identify with the age on her paperwork. She described the passage of decades as causing a nostalgia that feels "like a physical pain... a grief that I carry around everyday with me".
McPherson questioned where it would end, asking if people would soon feel nostalgia for recent phenomena like Peppa Pig. "We can't have nostalgia over stuff that isn't old," she concluded.
Audience reaction and what's next
Her viral post, which amassed more than 18,000 likes, resonated with many followers. Comments showed support for her perspective, with one user proposing a "Petition for you to start the 2006 throwback trend". Others chimed in with "Team 2006!" and even a call to "Let’s talk 1996! Now that was EPIC!"
The debate highlights a generational divide in how we process cultural memory online, with McPherson's stance firmly putting the brakes on fast-forwarding nostalgia for the late 2010s.
