There's A Very Specific Reason We Were So Much Happier With A Lot Less In 2016, According To A Sociologist
Elizeu Dias | Unsplash A sociologist named Caitlin Begg perfectly explained why we were so much happier in 2016 even though we objectively had a lot less, and it has everything to do with the social media apps we were and weren't using at the time.
Since the start of 2026, many people have been reminiscing about their lives in 2016 and how hard it is to wrap their heads around the fact that it's officially been a decade since then. People are posting old photos of themselves from that time and collectively agreeing that 2016 was definitely a time to be alive and may have been the last good year before things took a turn for the worse.
A sociologist thinks we were so much happier in 2016 because Instagram Stories didn't exist.
"You know why everyone was happier in 2016? Because Instagram Stories didn't exist. They didn't come out until August 2016, and the stories we were doing were Snapchat stories," Begg declared in a video.
Begg explained that in 2016, only 41% of college students checked Instagram more than once per day, and 22% didn't even have an account. Snapchat and Facebook reigned supreme in 2016, and the reality is that doomscrolling was way more manageable.
Social media was more authentic in 2016 and less about perception.
"In 2016, it [social media] would get people to go to a party, or it would be fun little in-between moments that weren't overly filtered," Begg continued. "We're craving 2016 because we’re craving life when it wasn't just a series of projections."
Artem Varnitsin | Canva
Begg recalled that she had completed her senior thesis in sociology at Harvard on the effects of social media on relationships. In 2016, even though social media usage was lower and very different from what it is today, almost everyone could agree that seeing someone's social media could change their entire perception of that person.
"That was true in 2016, 10 years ago. We've just increased our usage of social media, so the way that we're perceiving others is continuing to be influenced by social media," Begg said. "The way that we're portraying ourselves on social media is less and less authentic."
Social media feeds in 2016 still allowed you to interact with friends.
When was the last time you actually scrolled through Facebook and saw a friend or family member's update? That was the norm in 2016. You knew that Aunt Kathy adopted a dog, and your best friend decided to cut bangs. Slowly over the last decade, the algorithm destroyed that sense of connection.
Clinical psychologist Tracy King told Glamour, “Even though algorithms were already in use, platforms like Facebook and Instagram mostly showed posts from people you chose to follow.” She went on to say, “Feeds were more about relationships than reactions, so people saw familiar faces, daily updates, jokes, and shared moments. This kind of content helped people feel connected and safe, and scrolling did not feel as emotionally draining.”
Once you got your updates for the day, you weren't compelled to keep checking, as the algorithm convinces us nowadays. You didn't mindlessly open either app and watch videos from creators you had no interest in.
IKEA | Canva
The beauty of Snapchat was that many people were using it without overthinking. We weren't curating the types of photos and videos we were posting because they would just disappear in 24 hours anyway, and couldn't be seen again. It was a lot less filtered and showed just how much social media could be used for connecting with other like-minded people, compared to what it's become now.
Reminiscing is a reminder that we shouldn't be taking social media too seriously. The freedom is what most people miss. Going back to that exact feeling from 2016 might not be realistic, but pieces of it definitely are still attainable.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
