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World News

The Times of India

World / The Times of India

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'2026 Is the New 2016': Why everyones engaging in performative trend-hopping

The current obsession with 2016 isnt really about the year itself, but about how a specific early Gen Z internet culture turned it into a shared, ironic reference long before it went mainstream. What began as a niche, coded way of remembering a feeling has since been diluted into a trend, stripped of context by celebrities, algorithms and media eager to explain something that was never meant to be explained.

20 Jan 2026 7:16 pm