Here’s what that ‘Years Later’ trend on Facebook with the three emojis actually means

A new trend has popped up on Facebook this week that sees people writing “years later” with three very specific emojis next to it, but what does it mean? Here’s a full explanation, if you’re confused.

The trend first started around a month ago, but has suddenly blown up at the end of April and involves writing a certain number of years like “eight years later” or “12 years later”. Then, you put the calendar, hourglass and feet emojis next to it like this: “11 years later 🗓️ ⏳ 👣.”

Every single post follows exactly the same format and there are endless amounts of them appearing all over Facebook, and a few on Instagram. And it’s actually really simple.

Credit: Instagram

Here’s what the ‘Years Later’ trend on Facebook with these emojis ‘🗓️ ⏳ 👣’ means

No, the emojis don’t have some sort of secret code meaning. The trend literally just involves posting two side-by-side photos of a person a certain number of years apart to see how much they’ve changed. So, you could post a picture of yourself 14 years ago and another one of you now, and write “14 years later 🗓️ ⏳ 👣” in the caption.

Most Read

Revealed: The awful screenshot ‘receipts’ of texts Bec sent about other MAFS brides

Horrific details emerge as ‘headless body’ of mob boss son is found following kidnapping

Here’s when I’m A Celeb South Africa 2026 was filmed and the reason it’s not live

Or, you could post a picture of your three kids 22 years ago and now and put “14 years later 🗓️ ⏳ 👣”. People are using Facebook’s “Then and Now” feature to do this, which lets you choose an old and new photo from your Facebook albums and automatically puts labels on them to show which is the old and which is the new photo.

You can do this by clicking on the “Menu” tab in the bottom right-hand corner. Then, go to “Memories” and “Layouts for your Memories”. There, you can select the “Then and Now” option.

Wait, but what about the emojis?! Well, the emojis don’t really mean anything at all. They’re just three random emojis that, when used together, symbolise time passing. The calendar and hourglass both represent time, while the footsteps represent your journey and growth.

One person used that emoji combination on Facebook and now everyone is copying as a way of showing they are doing this particular trend and comparing the past with the present. Yep, that’s literally it.

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.