“I Love Nostalgia”: 35 Posts From The Past You Have To Be Old Enough To Get (New Pics)

So, I Love Nostalgia is a page on X that celebrates all things old, but good. The page is a throwback to the past for multiple generations of people, covering things from the '60s all the way through to the aughts.

The page has been around since mid 2011 and, as of this listicle, it boasts a bit over 336,000 followers.

"The community is happy and avoids politics and religion," Ian Wright, the creator of the page, told Bored Panda. "It’s just about happy memories. It’s a nice space in social media where division is forgotten."

Ian explained that the page was born out of posting '80s content on the regular and it got a very big reaction. "It’s a thrill getting lots of replies and follows," explained Ian.

The page features all sorts of content, ranging from pictures and videos to memes to engaging question tweets (oh wait, posts, got it) and quizzes, encouraging folks to take part in the nostalgia as a community.

While nostalgia might seem like any other feeling that we as humans experience, it’s more than just memories.

Nostalgia is heavily linked to the hippocampus (no, it’s not a campus full of hippos, checked it, was disappointed too), the ventral striatum, and the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental areas—big-brain terms for having something to do with memories and rewards.

"In my personal experience being born in 1972, I began to think about nostalgia when I turned 30," elaborated Ian about when nostalgia begins. "I started playing lots of '80s songs. I think nostalgia really becomes a much bigger thing when you realize you’re truly ‘adulting it’ in life. House, mortgage, kids, work, work, work. You long for the beautiful simple days of your youth. For the real nostalgia to kick in, I’d say 20-30 years."

"I post some 2000s nostalgia as the kids born say in 1990 who are 30 now are getting nostalgic. For 2010s, I’d say it’ll be 2030+, fully kicking in 2040."

Being on the brink of 2024 right now, it won't take long for 2030 to arrive and a new decade will be added to the page. So, what would that new decade of nostalgia entail?

"The 2010s was a decade of struggle, hate, retribution and massive division," explains Ian. "Trump, Brexit, #Metoo, austerity and over sensitivity. I’m biased obviously. If one is talking of nostalgia, all that goes out of the window. People remember with nostalgia the good things."

"It was the age of streaming music and TV. The birth of TikTok and silly dances. Snapchats and Roblox. It’s a very digital time."

Folks experience nostalgia differently, with the two main categories being the sociality view and the maladaptation view.

The first one is about the social aspect of nostalgia—folks who relive meaningful memories in the context of being social. The latter ties in with depression and emotional instability that comes from an individual’s inability to cope with adulting.

We feel nostalgic whenever it is triggered by a thing or a situation that we associated with a certain experience in our lives. It renews appreciation for the past and sparks optimism regarding the future. And while it can signify that a person is not all that happy about the present, there is a lot of benefit in it.

On an emotional level, nostalgia can lead to higher levels of optimism, inspiration, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose. It also has the added bonus of helping relieve stress in otherwise overwhelming situations.

In terms of behavior, nostalgia can be a good motivator, in both actually inspiring you to do something and pushing you to act upon that inspiration. The feeling often motivates folks to do something that is directly connected to what they’re nostalgic about. For example, being nostalgic about how healthy a person was in the past might just lead to increased physical activity.

Nostalgia also includes an element of social cognition—it can push someone to resolve interpersonal issues, reconnect with old friends, prioritize relationships, what have you.

In general, nostalgia is capable of empowering socially-oriented feelings that are key to us as social beings.

Lastly, nostalgia fosters creativity. One study shows that the influence of nostalgic feelings while writing has actually allowed the writers to come up with more creative prose. Nostalgia allows people to approach experience more openly and increase their levels of creativity.

We asked Ian what would be the one thing he'd bring back from the past if he could. He went with mischievous fun. "Everyone is too sensitive today and you can easily get into trouble."

We'd also like to extend this question to you, dear Pandas: what would you bring back from whatever decade you feel nostalgic about? Share your answers in the comment section below!

And don’t forget that there’s more where that came from, and by that, we mean that Bored Panda has another article about it, and if you haven’t gone through your post view limit on X, go nuts with the I Love Nostalgia X page.