Introduction

If you’ve been online in the past few weeks, you might have noticed the new social media trend which is circulating: I will dub it as the ‘2016 reboot’.

Many of us have likely planned our New Year Resolutions – and likely haven’t followed through with them, which seems to be the case to the people I’ve spoken to. Be it going to the gym, going out more or lifelong ambitions being pursued, we all have had the idea of making a positive contribution. Whether we follow through with it remains to be seen on our own terms, but one dominant phenomenon has arguably surpassed all of these goals.

The 2026 vs 2016 comparison:

That is our newfound interest in 2016, partly due to it not only being 10 years ago but because of how time and especially the start of a new year almost forces us to reflect on our past experiences. This idea of reflection and growth is, according to Professor of Behavioural Sciences Ivo Vlaev, one of the key 6 psychological needs for new year celebrations.

Algorithmic priority:

If you go onto TikTok right now and search up “2026”, the first thing that will appear is “2026 is the new 2016”. The fact that the algorithm is delivering this result to me infers that it is deemed a high-priority event, one which we are all embracing Henry Jenkins’ idea of a participatory culture. For more information on this, check out this article discussing his ideas on fandom here.

We can see this active user engagement through POV videos, edits and collages serving as a simulacra (artificial copy) of the 2016 zeitgeist. Audiences are navigating through their personal histories through discussions on age, social media (e.g – the vintage brown Instagram logo, era of Vine) and of course, killer clowns.

Celebrities and everyday users are sharing old photos taken on social media platforms, displaying popular songs and the overabundance of photo filters. Pokémon Go was in its prime, Instagram Stories launched and Facebook Live became publicly accessible.

Notable trends such as the Mannequin and the Bottle Flip Challenge are making a resurgence. This current societal shift promotes historical revisionism, which is where you question and change your beliefs about how things happened or what their importance and meaning is.

My 2016:

I was 9 years old back in 2016, carefree and simple-minded, as I balanced the seemingly challenging environment of Year 4 with the occasional game of kerby. For those who don’t know, kerby was a popular game I played with my brother and friends, where we would stand on opposite sides of the kerb on the street and try to bounce the ball off the facing kerb. It was incredibly fun.

But it also led to a LOT of running into people’s gardens for the ball and avoiding conflict with passing cars. I didn’t have any internet at the time, which was definitely both a benefit and drawback for me.

I had no interest in education, seeing it purely as an obstacle that was forcing me into a life I didn’t want. I think we all feel that same way when we lack the maturity and responsibilities attributed with becoming an adult and finding your own purpose.

The killer clowns period:

I also remember the era of killer clowns. These were a wave of sightings reported on news outlets and social media channels (initially within the US), which in turn amplified through word-of-mouth. It began to spread in notoriety within here in the UK. This caused a moral panic for ordinary people, unsure if these individuals were harmless prankers or criminals carrying out acts of terror.

Police were forced to intervene against this disturbing of the peace, such as a 30 year old man in Norwich arrested for scaring a woman in a park. The reason people were so petrified of clowns was due to ‘hyperbolic representations within films‘, asserted by psychologist Professor Mark Griffiths.

Think of iconic clown characters. The Joker, for instance. He adopts the jester persona whilst carrying out acts of violence and murder, strengthening George Gerbner’s idea of resonance (where we consider constructed narratives into how we perceive the world) within the viewer. Many people highlighted the extremities at which this identity would be used, such as a 13 year old boy wielding a sharp knife.

Theorists Robin Nabi and Karyn Riddle interpret resonance within their article Personality Traits, Television Viewing and the Cultivation Effect as suggesting “cultivation effects may be amplified in situations where viewers have more real-world experience” (2008, p.328). I can certainly agree with this through my own personal circumstances.

My experience with killer clowns:

Sometime during October, me and my brother had gone out to play at Ditton Park – or King George’s Park, as it is officially known – with a few friends, cutting through our usual spot of the forest near us. We went through the green gate and walked towards the bridge, until on the right we spotted a figure in the distance.

On the right, there usually was a rope swing – where we would often engage in the risky activity of holding onto a branch as we swung across a ditch. I have fell in that ditch before. Not a proud moment of mine but definitely memorable.

This time however, there was a person in a clown mask, who we shared eye contact with. The gaze and the figure’s slow approach towards us was enough for us to move and eventually retreat after they began a chase.

An hour after, we decided to return back through the forest and cross the bridge, where we turned left up towards the main pathway near Dundalk Road. Since this space was more open and exposed, we presumed this person dressed up wouldn’t risk coming after us again. We were wrong. Once making it to the play area of the park, we were able to relax from the prior stress. This was reinforced by a community football match taking place, with lots of people we could reach out to if we were pursued again.

However, we saw the clown again, this time with another two people also adopting the persona. They were hidden in a group of trees near the curved pathway connecting the top of Dundalk Road and Prestbury Close. Rather than go this way, we walked closer to Dundalk Road by the Betfred building. We then ran up the path opposite Steward’s Brook and walked up Milton Avenue back home.

Very tame in retrospect, especially since I now know who the person was wearing the mask. But for a 9 year old child, it’s enough to leave a lasting impression, particularly when the news signifies their importance.

Conclusion

I can see online a lot of discourse and debate surrounding this trend. Some recognise that this yearly resurrection of former habits is a dated and formulaic approach to living our lives, which is preventing us from looking to the future. To be fair, I do remember people saying 2025 would be the new 2015. I don’t think it was, personally. Although, 2016 was definitely a year which felt more positive and uplifting from my perspective. Thus, I hope 2026 does revitalise this ‘yearly resurrection’ we as people so desperately cling onto.

A few final things to assert.

Please let the Snapchat dog filter remain extinct. Can we bring back iDubbbz’s “I’m gay” meme? And does Michael Jordan’s “Stop it, get some help” meme still hold weight against the ragebaiters and trolls that dominate the digital realm?

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Any questions? What do you think about 2026? The new 2016 or just another year? Feel free to contact me via johnjoyce4535@gmail.com!

Check out my last piece: The Data Subjects – iOS Tracking, Panopticism and Societies of Control

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https://www.liverpoolguildstudentmedia.co.uk/category/arts-culture