We are millennials. Our world revolves around technology, multi-tasking, diversity, teamwork, adventure, confidence, and practicality (just to name a few!). In this hectic world of information and indeterminate job security, millennials tend to seek solace through nostalgia.
Memory appeals to millennials whether we realize it or not. Our generation has always been exposed to the past through an unstifled influx of information. This information overload sometimes compresses millennials’ perception of time. Early-onset nostalgia manifests itself through our generation's excessive use of #tbt or "throwback Thursday." Initially, #tbt recalled a moment from childhood; however, millennials have begun to throwback to last month or even last week. Our generation is so obsessed with memorializing the past that we have invented #fbf, or "flashback Friday." The Timehop app also demonstrates our desire for the past. This application ciphers through users' social media profiles and re-posts what that individual did a couple of years ago on a particular day.
The millennial obsession with nostalgia not only recalls a previous time of our own generation, but also borrows cultural memories from previous generations. Cassandra Mcintosh, a senior insights analyst at Exponentials, says that “[millennials] end up romanticizing simpler times much more—even those times that they weren’t around for.”
Millennials fixate on the past because we have deep anxieties about the future. The University of Southampton’s "Nostalgia: Past, Present, and Future" says that “[n]ostalgia is triggered by dysphoric states such as negative mood and loneliness” while simultaneously generating positive effects that increase self-esteem, foster social connectedness, and alleviate existential threats.
We live in an age of student debt, an insanely competitive job environment, and an unreasonably expensive housing market; economic turmoil is our reality. During times of deep uncertainty, we turn to a previous age even if we have not lived in that time.
From mason jars to reboots of Polaroid cameras, our generation is incessantly preoccupied with the past. We fixate on moments of rawness like film photography (especially black and white or sepia film), instant film cameras, vinyl records, even recordings of vinyl records. Millennials also tend to glamorize architectural styles from previous periods; exposed brick apartments with industrial lighting is now a “trend.” The millennial fascination with nostalgia seeks to romanticize a simpler time of rawness that is not contrived through contemporary culture or media.
The massive expanse of film photography demonstrates our generation's fixation on nostalgia. In opposition to digital photography, film photography highlights the authenticity of the world. Millennials are constantly bombarded with various forms photoshopped media and CGI effects. Even Instagram and Facebook have filters that quickly edit photos for you. Millennials’ craving for nostalgia is considerably intertwined with “unfiltered” experiences. Thrift shopping, collecting antiques, shooting in film, listening to vinyl records, etc. demonstrates how we turn to a previous age even if we have not lived in that time during periods of anxiety.
Furthermore, millennial nostalgia is disturbingly enacted through consumerism. Consumerism knows that our generation is obsessed with nostalgia and markets to us accordingly. Nostalgia marketing even spills into avenues of entertainment, food, and fashion. "Throwback" products do not necessarily work for every brand, but there is definitely a trend for companies to #tbt their products. The Pepsi's 2009 vintage design, the Coors Banquet bottle, retro webdesigns, and '80s and '90s throwback fashion trends are just a couple of ways consumerism plays on nostalgia. Our generation interacts with nostalgia through consumerism.
Nostalgia carries a sense of belonging with its products that allows millennials to feel fashionable and comforted at the same time. Millennials “buy” ways to demonstrate a yearning for the past while deflecting the anxieties of the present and future.
