Right, what does the viral millennial optimism TikTok trend actually mean?!

TikTok has found its latest obsession, and for once it isn’t Gen Z. Instead, the app is deep in its feelings about the so-called millennial optimism era, a strangely comforting, slightly delusional time that feels both vividly remembered and half-imagined.

@millennial.ca Idc I miss the 2010s #2010s #hipnesspurgatory #hipster #millennialcore ♬ Blood – The Middle East

If you’re not chronically online, the trend usually looks like this: 2000s or early-2010s throwback photos set to the audio Blood by The Middle East. We’re talking grainy house-party pics, Apple Photo Booth selfies, owl-print tops, moustache mugs and friends piled onto sofas with absolutely no sense of personal space. Everything is unfiltered, unpolished, and deeply earnest. Very much a “you had to be there” moment, when performative hipsters ruled the earth.

@christina_anne i wanted that new york apartment with brick walls so bad #millenials #2010s #2012 #hipster #fyp ♬ Blood – The Middle East

One TikTok summed it up perfectly: “Millennial optimism era really had me thinking I could make a living as a part-time barista and live in a six-bedroom house with all my friends.”

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The trend is basically a spiritual reboot of the quirky 2010s main character. Think messy buns with intention, handwritten affirmations in gel pen. It’s soft joy. It’s romanticising the bare minimum. It’s believing your life is about to begin any second now.

@connor.heilRevisiting my roots also plz this is a joke obviously this isn’t a new thing I’ve been doing it my entire life 😭😭♬ Blood – The Middle East

Part of why it’s blowing up is because, well, the world is a lot. Gen Z is burnt out, chronically online, and feeling the pressure of adulthood before we’ve even figured out how to cook pasta properly. Between doomscrolling, productivity culture, and pretending student debt is just a fun little side quest, something snapped.

@tawny.1 The music, the fashion, the pop culture-I envy them! #fyp #foryou #millennial #nostalgic ♬ Blood – The Middle East

Nostalgia for Y2K is fading, replaced by a longing for the years around 2010, imagined as more hopeful and full of possibility. Millennials miss the confidence they once had, Gen Z mourns a future that never arrived, and TikTok has turned it all into a montage. Thus, millennial optimism.

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Featured image credit: TikTok