Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday is a popular internet trend used among social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Users will often post nostalgic pictures of their past accompanied by the hashtag #TBT or ThrowbackThursday. It is used by people all over the world to share and relive their past experiences with anyone they want. While a majority of posts reflect positive moments in someone's past, the term throwback can be attributed to anything in the past.

Sports Illustrated attributes the origin of the term to a sneaker-specific blog named Nice Kicks.^[1] According to SI, this blog began a practice of regular postings (on Thursdays) of photos of old basketball footwear in 2006, titling the series "Throwback Thursday". One other source agrees, giving more insight into the origins of the term and how its usage spread.^[2]

Origin

The source of Throwback Thursday can be traced back to 2006 where Matt Halfhill, founder of Nike Kicks began posting photos of older shoes he liked before the release of new shoes. Since then, the slogan has blown up to the point where #TBT has been used on Instagram over 200 million times. While the trend has origins outside of social media, it only gained popularity once major apps such as Instagram began to rise in popularity as well.

Popularity

Throwback Thursday became very popular due to the fact that people love to relive past memories whether it be their childhood, old relationships, past vacations, old songs, or anything that gives them a happy and nostalgic feeling. People also love to share their memories with others and attract attention in the form of comments and likes.

How to use Throwback Thursday

Anyone can participate in the trend by posting a photo or video on social media sites which include but are not limited to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. The trend is especially popular on Instagram due to the hashtag feature. Users can tag their photos with #TBT or #ThrowbackThursday with can ultimately help their content gain exposure due to a wide audience of people searching through these tags. There are no rules regarding how old a picture has to be, it can be from many years ago or it can be from earlier in the week. Examples of content to post are photos/videos from one's childhood, an important vacation, nostalgic artwork such as music or films, and even screenshots of conversations from years ago.

Flashback Friday

Similar to Throwback Thursday, Flashback Friday was a popular hashtag several months before Throwback Thursday was.^[3] Although both hashtags are similar, what makes them different is the days in which one can post a nostalgic picture. Flashback Friday is a second chance for social media lovers to upload a photo if they have forgotten on Thursday, or even for people to upload more vintage photos that allows them to share their content as many times as they want. On Fridays, social media users should use the hashtag #flashbackfriday or #fbf to follow the trend.

#MondayMotivation

Monday Motivation is a slogan redistributed on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook under the hashtag #MondayMotivation where users of the social media sites post positive messages on a Monday.^[4] Positive quotes and uplifting messages are included in this hashtag as well as many photographs. Monday was the chosen day for such hashtag as a result of the widely known Monday Blues phenomena.^[5] The hashtag also aims to inspire productivity for all, with users using this hashtag for motivating other users to get out of bed on a Monday morning.^[6]

References

• Gannes, Liz. "Throwing Back to the Origins of Throwback Thursday". Recode. Retrieved 7 July 2017. 
• Moreau, Elise. "What Throwback Thursday Actually Is and Why It's So Popular". Lifewire. Retrieved 7 July 2017.