Is Summer 2024 the new Summer 2016?
- Anirudh Shenoy
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
If you've been on the internet for at least the past decade, then you would know that there was something magical about Summer 2016 that made people online forget everything else going on in the world.
Pokémon Go had brought people out of their homes and into the streets (sometimes literally, unfortunately). Hip-hop and pop felt like they were at their peaks, and the radio was still cycling through enough songs where it never felt repetitive. Before TikTok, people were sharing their funniest ideas on Vine and dancing on Musical.ly. The Rio Olympic Games ushered in a new era of athletes with a focus on swimming and track & field. For the people in my niche of the internet, there was the famed 2016 XXL Freshmen Cypher, which to this day is still revered as the best one yet, sitting at 233 million views on YouTube.
So how does all of this compare to Summer 2024?
Well, let's start with the music that dropped. We kicked off the summer with Drake and Kendrick Lamar going for each other's necks, a long awaited feud that was finally making it's way out of the sneak disses. Eminem dropped a monumental album where he dove deep into the introspection of who he is now and who he was as Slim Shady. Charli XCX released the summer defining album, 'Brat', which created an entire sub-culture that's still alive and thriving.
Beyond music, Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 all had people locked in and discussing all summer long. Young Sheldon rose back into memedom and The Boys had us glued to our screen. The Paris Olympics broke the internet for a few weeks with controversial break dancing and badass Olympic Shooting stills. Listen, the list goes on and on, and I think for this reason it gives Summer 2016 a run for it's money.
Both summer's seemed to have a unique sense of community in the air. It's possible that's because it was an election year both times, but when you look at the bigger picture, what really made both summers feel special was the ways in which we consumed media and shared ideas.
As mentioned earlier, in 2016, Vine had reached it's maturity stage as a social platform. Influencers and creators were starting to build fanbases on the app that seeped into other forms of success, like getting brand deals and growing a YouTube following. This directly relates to TikTok entering it's own maturity stage in 2024. People who were once hermits on X (FKA Twitter), slowly moved towards TikTok, where they could freely express themselves as they once did. Furthermore, creators with addictive personalities started transitioning into streaming on Twitch while still using TikTok as a platform to hook new fans. Finally, it's not uncommon to get your "boots-on-the-ground" style news from your For You page, all thanks to the tight knit communities that had been building since the start of the year.
So where does this leave us in the fierce competition between the two eras? Well, it's too soon to call. Summer 2016 will always have a special place in people's hearts, and that love has only grown over time. Summer 2024 never stood a chance. But, as we let it marinate in time, I think we'll slowly realize just how great it was.
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