If you are an avid social network user and use Instagram or Facebook to document every moment of your life, then you might have participated in the “#TBT” trend. For those who do not know about it, the meaning is simple. It is a trip that takes you down on your memory lane with your photographs. The truth is, everybody loves to look back to their golden old days. The memories are always bright, beautiful, and unforgettable. “#TBT” stands for these evergreen memories.
Earlier people used to share pictures of their childhood or teenage years or memorable events randomly. You may have been celebrating a proud moment of your family member or yourself, and you posted an old picture of that day. The trend caught the viral gear, and everyone was suddenly sharing their memories on Instagram, Twitter, or snap chat or facebook.
What does TBT mean?
It is quite simple. The short form stands for “Throwback Thursday.” That means a user shares a picture of their older golden days on social media platforms on Thursdays. Throwback is what compels or helps you to look back. This trend is a theme and has an emotional value attached to it. Pretty simple. You share a picture, and your task is complete.
Anyone can copy this hashtag and share a throwback picture on Thursday to participate in the trend game.
What type of pictures?
Well, there is no such specified rules and regulations about the “throwback Thursday” trend. It can be any picture that is associated with your memory or your past. Besides this, the throwback trend also applicable for other family member s and people whom you love.
So, you can share an old picture of you as a child going to a fair, or enjoying a sunbath or a holiday with your family. It can be your first photograph from your childhood, your childhood birthday part picture, or even about any memory of your youth. Many people often share their old memories like getting their first gift, first day at school, first graduation ceremony, a first solo trip, or anything. It can be about your first car or first home also.
For some users, it is all about family members. Many people also share old pictures of their deceased family members as throwbacks. Often siblings tag each other on an old photo with the “#TBT” hashtag to express their mutual love and closeness.
That means you do not need to think about thee photographs and the trend very much. Anything related to your past can be equally eligible for the “#ThrowbackThursday” tag. It can also be about some recent memories like your marriage ceremony picture on your anniversary, the anniversary of your new job or the birthday of your child, etc.
Besides the usual photographs, you can also share audio recordings, texts related to your memories. Many people also share old recorded videos for themselves. That means, there is no limitation about the posts and their subjects. It just needs to be associated with your memory and your life.
That means the criteria that you need to follow is you must share the picture or video or text or audio on a Thursday, and it should be associated with your old memories. You need to post them with the hashtag “#TBT” or “ThrowbackThursday” or both in your social media account.
How did TBT originate?
Well, Throwback Thursday is not a new trend. In reality, it was there even before facebook, or Instagram existed. This phrase got its entry ticket in the dictionary in 2003.
It is still a mystery how this trend became so popular. There is also little mystery about its first user. According to accessible sources, a blogger, Mark Halfhill, first used this hashtag in 2006 for his blog. Then it again became popular in 2010-2011, and since then, people are going crazy over this tag, and every week, more people are participating in this game.
Earlier it was not restricted on a particular day on the week, and people used to post their old pictures with a hashtag, “#tb,” TB, meaning Throwback. But, with time, people started dedicating a particular day to their throwbacks, and it became the famous”#throwbackThursdays” trend.
Whoever be the master behind this beautiful trend, there is one fact that you can deny. Celebrities around the world did a lot to make the TBT tag accessible. These people shared their old photos, and ordinary people started to follow their stars, and the trend becomes the new “In Thing.”
Why is this trend so much favored?
According to reports, till this year, approximately 228 million photos have been uploaded with this “#TBT” hashtag. Usually, a trend comes, and people participate in it and leave it. But, people do not abandon the “#throwbackThursday” trend. They continue this trend and often post nostalgic pictures that are full of memories and happy moments.
But why is this trend so popular? The answer is it is related to human psychology. There are many psychological points behind the scene, which make any social participation in the Throwback trend.
- Throwback pictures are like Pandora’s Box. You open the image and remember the loving memories, and it makes you happy within seconds. There are sad memories, but happy memories are always crucial to anyone. Your childhood vacations, friends, valuable things still hold a dear place in your heart. Besides that, people also love their relatives and deceased family members. Throwback trends allow anyone to go backward and relive those beautiful days through the old memories. Nostalgia is always helpful for your mental health. It helps you to become happier and cheers you up in an instant.
Besides that, the nostalgia also curbs loneliness, social isolation, and makes you stronger. Besides that, it also helps to fight stress and depression in many situations. So, it has a deep connection to the emotional well being.
- The main factor behind the success of the “#ThrowbackThuraday” trend is nostalgia. Thes throwback photos help to improve social connectivity and social support. Besides that, it increases self-esteem in any human. The truth is, any nostalgic photo often brings compliments from other fellow users. It helps people to connect and makes anyone confident.
- Another point behind the success of the “throwbackThursday” trend is that it allows you to share sneak peek of your life to other people. This trend is quite an esteem booster for people. It allows anyone to post about something unknown to any other people. People feel that they will become more attractive to others.
- Another truth is, everyone loves to post things about themselves. The TBT trends allow them to post more about themselves. It also helped to learn a new way of self-love. Because the throwback moments are all about yourself, and they have a more profound value embedded in them.
So, in a nutshell, nostalgia is the may key influencer that made the “#ThrowbackThursday” hashtag and trends famous. People instantly felt happy after getting nostalgic, and it helped them to cope with the modern-day lifestyle.
Some ideas on how to take part in “#TBT” trend
Now you have become quite a master about the “#ThrowbackThuraday” or “#TBT” trend. You know how to use it and how to post with this hashtag.
But what to post on your Throwback Thursday? Before you start to search, it is a better idea to relax. Nobody is perfect. Imperfections make anyone more beautiful and attractive. Hence, you do not need to share ideal photographs or videos. It can be anything related to you. Here are some ideas that you can share on Thursdays-
- Your childhood picture
- Childhood was fun and exciting. So, any photo related to your growth years is a perfect candidate. The photographs are beautiful and help you to remember the find memories again.
- So, feel free to post about your old photos, including your summer pool days, your fist picture with your pet, your first prize, first holiday, Christmas pictures, etc.
- The truth is, you do not need to overthink. Your old picture with a bowl haircut can be enough for the throwback trend. The image will show how much you have changed and how you have transformed with time.
- Pictures of your family members-
- You can also share vintage images of your family members like your grandparents, your cousins, and other relatives. You can also share pictures of the deceased family members who were close to you. Family is always fun and nostalgic. Never forget to tag your family members with your throwback picture.
- Your pet
- Your pet holds a special place inside your heart. Show your love for your pet by posting your image with your pet when it was little. If you had another pet that died some time ago, remember that beloved animal with a throwback.
- Any important possession
- ThrowbackThursday can also be celebrated by posting pictu4res of your prized possession. For example, your first car, your first handmade artifact, your baby clothing, your old tape recorder or DVD player, or even your old computer or cellphone. All of these possessions are nostalgic and can be an excellent choice for your “#TBT” post.
- Important events
- Important events like marriage function, first college degree, graduation, first day of job can be a great way to share throwbacks. These moments may not be vintage enough but are nostalgic always.
- A nostalgic song
- If you are a grown-up, then you sure have a song that was your favorite in your teenage or young adult days. Share the audio file of your old favorite song and relive the golden days.
- Video clips
- Old video clips are also great for sharing as throwbacks. These nostalgic films help you to go back to the past and remember your life incidents.
- Your old posts
- Well, Facebook and Instagram have unique features. Facebook has an exclusive option called”Memory,” which allows you to share your earlier updates or statuses. Instagram and Twitter also have similar features. So, if you do not want to spend hours deciding what to post, repost an old status or tweet, and participate in the “TBT” trend.
“#ThrowbackThursday” as a promotional trend
The truth is companies and brands also share throwbacks on their social media account page to attract customers and influence people. The use of throwbacks as a marketing tool is getting popular. Many companies share old pictures of their office premises, their old logo, the image of their founder, etc. on Thursdays as throwbacks. Often these pictures and videos are used to attract the target audience and connect to their employees. Additionally, old photos help them in establishing the brand image and a sense of trust among their customers.
Variation of “#TBT” trend
There are many variations of this trend. Because a single day cannot be enough to share the old memories. Hence, internet users have come up with different variations of this trend. These are-
- #MondayMemories
- #TakeMeBackTuesday
- #WayBackWednesday
- #FlashbackFriday
Another popular variation is the “ten years transformation challenge” in which someone posts the ten-year-old picture and recent pictures of themselves or anything or any person related to them together to display the transformation.
The hashtag”#OnThisDay# is used to share old pictures of any particular event related to this day.
Conclusion
The main advantage of the “#tbt” trend is the unique opportunity to revisit the memories of the past. It also allows anyone to celebrate history with others. Hence, if you have still not participated in the “ThrowbackThursday” trend, grab your old and nostalgic photo and post it in your social media and see the magic.
You can also find other common abbreviations such as LOL, ROFL, SMH and LMAO, etc in our education archive.