Perhaps the most defining moment of that era was the summer of Pokémon GO which saw millions of people wandering through parks in search of virtual creatures. It was a rare instance of technology forcing us to go outside and interact with actual sunlight.
Research from the Duke University School of Medicine confirmed that players were walking an extra two thousand steps a day on average which basically made the game a giant accidental fitness program. We were all united by the sight of a stranger staring intently at their phone near a fountain and we knew exactly what they were doing. It was a brief and beautiful window of time where the biggest conflict was whether you were on Team Mystic or Team Valor and the air was filled with the sounds of simulated monster captures.
When we were not hunting digital monsters we were busy trying to master the art of the water bottle flip or standing perfectly still for the mannequin challenge. There was something deeply satisfying about watching a teenager land a plastic bottle on its base and the entire internet erupted in applause as if a major athletic feat had occurred.
Then came the mannequin challenge where entire schools and sports teams would freeze in place while specific songs played in the background. It was a bizarre and delightful trend that required an impressive amount of core strength and collective coordination. These challenges were the precursors to the high production trends we see today but they felt more spontaneous and less polished which is exactly why they stay lodged in our memories.
The memes of 2016 were also in a league of their own as they gave us the visual vocabulary to express every possible emotion. We had Arthur's Fist to represent our secret frustrations and the blurry Mr. Krabs for those moments of pure panic and confusion.
Then there was Dat Boi who was literally just a low resolution frog on a unicycle but for some reason seeing him roll onto our screens felt like a momentous occasion. We were also collectively shouting Damn Daniel at our friends whenever they wore white shoes even if their names were not Daniel. These memes were simple and chaotic and they paved the way for the complex layered humor that defines our current digital landscape in 2026.
Pop culture was also working overtime in 2016 with massive releases that still resonate today. Beyoncé changed the game with her visual album Lemonade and we all watched in awe as she walked down the street. Meanwhile Drake was perched on the edge of a skyscraper for his Views album cover and the internet responded by photoshopping him onto every imaginable surface.
