Most people won’t be looking back fondly on 2020, or missing the days of lockdown, social distancing and uncertainty that were brought on by the global pandemic.
The World Health Organization estimates that three million people died from Covid-19 in the first year of the pandemic worldwide, and many are still suffering from the negative impact on their mental health.
Yet, Gen Z TikTok users from the US and the UK are reminiscing about how much they are missing this period of their lives, calling quarantine their ‘best year ever’, and a ‘well-deserved break.’
Search terms like ‘2020 nostalgia’, ‘missing 2020’ and ‘missing lockdown’ are trending on the platform, which was created in 2016 but became a go-to for teenagers and 20-somethings in the throes of the pandemic.
For experts, this feeling of nostalgia stems from the fact that lockdown offered a break from the pressures of our busy lives and obligations, where people who were not key workers used social media as a window to the world and a form of digital escapism.
On TikTok, Gen Z from the US and the UK are voicing how they are feeling nostalgic of the year 2020, especially the days they spent in quarantine and during lockdown
Since late 2022, TikTok pages have been circulating ‘2020 nostalgia’ videos, featuring clips that were popular in March of that year.
One video includes footage of Boris Johnson announcing the implementation of the national lockdown on March 23 2020, with the former Prime Minister saying: ‘You must stay at home.’
In the same clip, the creator went through the main trends that swept the UK during the first three months of the pandemic until lockdown was gradually lifted in May of that year.
They included Joe Wicks workouts, foamy Dalgona coffee and the home baking trend, followed by pictures of empty shelves in supermarkets due to stockpiling, and families clapping for carers.
The video received two million likes and gathered more than 18,100 comments from people reminiscing about the early days of lockdown.
‘I miss that stage of the pandemic,’ one said, while another added: ‘I miss 2020 TikTok.;
One described the pandemic as ‘the last time I was mentally stable.’
‘It’s sad that this era won’t come back,’ one wrote, talking about the early days of TikTok before the app blew up.
A video with a clip of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing the first lockdown of 2020 was liked 2million times on TikTok, while women in the US have also admitted they miss this period of time
One person said she missed the times where her only responsibility was to stay at home, adding she took lockdown for granted
‘The feels during this time were the best,’ one said
‘Turns out 2020 was actually one of the best years,’ another wrote.
‘I wish I could go back to 2020 because it was the best year, that’s when I got a girlfriend and that’s when I became popular.
‘Crazy how looking back at it, 2020 was one of the best years of most of our lives,’ one said.
Another creator posted a video which she captioned: ‘The way we took quarantine for granted makes me want to cry. There’s literally nothing I miss more than beginning of 2020.
She went on: ‘Quarantine felt like a well-deserved break, time was not real, whipped coffee, this song, so many memories but none at the same time, our only responsibility was to stay home… And yet we still complained.’
Another one from Birmingham suggested that life was easier to handle for them during the pandemic than in 2023.
‘I miss 2020-early 2021. I miss lockdown and online schooling. It was so full, I’ll do anything just to live those years the exact same again.
‘I miss […] old trends, my old self. Life was so easy back then.’
People have been coming out of the woodwork and voicing that they missing the lives they had in 2020
Content creators have also been circulating videos titled ‘point of view, it’s March 2020,’ focusing on some of the trends that were raging at the time, including the Dalgona coffee trend
One person admitted that they missed their old self and felt that life was easier for them in 2020 than in 2023
One concluded that they felt their life was ‘s***’ during 2020, but added that it also felt like ‘the best’ it has ever been at the same time
However, one woman from Arizona asked people to explain why they missed a year that had been traumatic for her.
‘What’s all this noise about you all missing 2020, missing quarantine,’ she said.
‘I keep seeing videos and comments saying how you guys miss quarantine, how it was so much fun, what?
‘Guys, do you remember what was going on during that time?
‘Didn’t you all go crazy because you had to stay indoors all day. You couldn’t go out to see your friends, couldn’t go to school, couldn’t do nothing? And now I’m hearing that you guys are missing it,’ she went on.
‘For me, it was peaceful. I’m an introvert so I was happy to be home. I was able to focus on things I didn’t get to focus on because my life before was hectic. I spent more time with my family, my daughter, I got a well-deserved break, I finally left a toxic relationship and got into a beautiful one,’ another added.
Many left comments revealing how much they miss 2020, with some saying they’d go back in time if they could
Dr Becky Spelman, Psychologist and Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, and Clinical Director of Private Therapy Clinic in London, explained that in the midst of the uncertainty surrounding the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, some people welcomed the lockdown as a break from their obligations.
‘Throughout the pandemic, people were able to decline a lot of social events that they didn’t need to participate in and they had the opportunity to only see the people that they cared the most about,’ she said.
‘When you remove all of the normal obligations, you give people a completely different framework, they have a blank slate to decide how they want to design their life – within the limits of lockdown.’
With the intensity of the pandemic dwindling over the years, and the demands and pace of modern life resuming to full blast in the past two years, some will be compelled to look back at 2020 as a special time of self-reflection.
‘They know it is highly unlikely that they will have that level of free time back, as we are not meant to be locked up and restricted like we were in the pandemic.’
Some went as far as saying that it is ‘sad’ that 2020 won’t come back, while other said it was the best year of their lives
Kath Temple, an International success & happiness psychologist and a lifestyle coach teaching Happiness classes on Goldster, also reflected on the fact that the social media platform’s popularity blew up during the pandemic.
‘TikTok literally took off with teenagers being the main users of the platform back in 2020, escaping reality and submersing themselves in a virtual reality from their own homes. New communities were built online. Online connections reduced social isolation for some, but not all,’ she said.
‘For introverted teenagers, the reduction in social interactions, combined with the physical distance of online relationships, would charge up their inner batteries and reduce the stresses of any social anxiety they may experience in day to day life,’ she added.
‘It was a period of re-evaluation, a chance to look at the life we wanted to live, a re-envisioning of sorts, and a re-appreciation of the things, and people, we missed. No time in human history has provided us with this type of opportunity to step back from life,’ Kath went on.
Meanwhile, Mark Vahrmeyer, a psychotherapist and co-founder of Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy, said that the economic and political climate that Gen Z emerged into after lockdown had been very challenging.
‘Emerging from the pandemic has been hard for all with economic crises, fuel poverty, high interest rates and global instability,’ he said.
‘Young people who quickly had to find a way of living and belonging in a locked-down world have emerged into a rather chaotic mess – there is a lot of pressure on them to find their way in life and it is anxiety provoking.’
He added that feelings of nostalgia also tend to blurry the more difficult sides of a situation.
‘Nostalgia is never really rooted in the reality of how a situation or time period actually was, rather, it is a bit like viewing the past through rose-tinted glasses. Forgotten are the anxieties of the unknowns of the pandemic, replaced with a retrospective that glorifies the positives and the perceived stability that people felt.’
‘And whilst movement restrictions and even restrictions on time spend outside were to many of us deeply frustrating, some, particularly the young, may have found a safer version of reality online where interactions could be more controlled and also perhaps more anonymous – a type of pseudo-intimacy characteristic of the online world,’ he added.
‘Nostalgia is never about reality – it is an escape from reality. Not inherently harmful unless the escape becomes one that is perpetuated.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk