The new year is hardly two months away, and as 2025 comes to a close, the internet seems to be revisiting 2016. Social media, film and fashion have all taken a decade-long step backwards in the past few weeks with a reimagined Vine and a revived “Stranger Things” obsession.
diVine is a new app modeled after one of the earliest video-based social media platforms, Vine. Vine was officially shut down in January 2017, making 2016 the last full year of its existence, with the app holding a similar place in users’ lives as TikTok does now. Funny six-second videos were shared between creators on Vine. However, in an era where social media and “funny videos” are characterized by usage of artificial intelligence, diVine has put a strict anti-AI policy into place.
It looks like the app will allow humans to view and share content made by other humans. Over 100,000 original and popular Vines that were posted between 2012 and 2017 have been reuploaded to the app. The former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, backed the reboot of the app with the help of former Twitter employees. The goal of diVine is to be simple and nostalgic.
“DiVine aims to recapture the authenticity of the early social media era,” NBC Palm Springs wrote in an article published on Nov. 15.
Today, when you hear someone laughing at a Reel or TikTok on their phone, it is very likely that video is the product of “brainrot” AI. However, just a few years ago, people were looking at their screens, finding humor in creative content that other thinking humans put together. diVine is a reminder of a simpler past on social media.
“Stranger Things” is also back on the radar, with its newest season set to release on Nov. 26. The popular show debuted in 2016 and quickly took the media by storm. Recently, old clips from interviews and behind the scenes of “Stranger Things” have been resurfacing, containing childhood memories of actors from the show, such as Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin. It is hard not to feel nostalgic when you are scrolling on Instagram and see a video of Brown rapping on The Tonight Show when she was just 13 years old.
I predict that in the coming weeks, music from the “The Stranger Things” soundtrack will take over social media, just as Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” did in 2022 after season four of the series was released. Be prepared to have a classic rock hit, like “Wheel in the Sky” by Journey, stuck in your head for the next few months, as the song is rumored to be featured in the new season.
Fashion trends have emerged from the “Stranger Things” comeback as well, which all have a 2010s-meets-the-1980s flair to them. Loose-fitting jeans, bomber jackets and high-top converse were all staples of the ‘80s that reemerged during the 2010s indie scene. I have already noticed fans of the show wearing these items in videos set to the “Stranger Things” soundtrack and foresee all of these items being worn at a greater capacity in the coming weeks.
Although the year will be 2026 before we know it, taking a look at recent trends, someone might think they accidentally jumped back in time to 2016. Stay tuned to see what direction popular culture and media turns down as the new year unfolds.