Has your feed been inundated with throwback posts from 2016 as well?
2016—the glory days of social media, the days before the algorithm and the advertisers took over.
But instead of nostalgia, what I'm getting from all of these throwbacks is just how uncurated, fun, and carefree we used to be.
2016 Wasn't Just "10 Years Ago"
It was before the algorithm took over.
It was when your feed was chronological. When you posted a blurry photo from brunch without thinking twice about lighting or composition, threw a Valencia filter on it and got 15 likes that made you feel like you knew what you were doing. When captions were genuine thoughts instead of carefully crafted copy optimized for engagement.
That was 2016.
And these throwbacks are showing us exactly what we've lost and that…the homogenization of social media is real.
What stops me most about scrolling through these 2016 posts isn't just the nostalgia—it's the contrast. Back then, everyone's feed looked different- I could tell who was who.
Now?
We're obsessed with the right skincare routine, traveling to the same places to strike the same poses, wearing the same viral outfits, chasing the same post aesthetic for our feeds.
We've learned what "performs well," and in doing so, we've traded our 1/1 of uniqueness for a formulaic existence.
The algorithm didn't just change how we see content. It changed how we create it.
you’ve heard me saying this for a while but I believe the best brands and creators are the ones brave enough to break the mold.
The ones who remember that connection—real, messy, human connection—will always outperform perfection.
If this nostalgia wave is teaching us anything, it's that people are craving humanness again. They're tired of the same. They're ready for something real.
The question is: are you ready to give it to them?
Let's bring back some of that 2016 energy—the uncurated, the spontaneous, the unapologetically human. I promise that your audience will thank you for it.
Here's to being brave enough to be different.