I write in 2026, based on my experiences today with this topic. The reality is that today we are living through an analog trend that stems directly from the post-pandemic era of 2020. At least on the internet, the production of content focused on collections and the second-hand market, especially items from decades ago, is what reigns supreme today, and particularly in the years following the pandemic.
In the past, channels featuring massive book hauls, book collections, vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, etc., were not the norm. Today, the newer generations, especially those born after 2010, are seeking to reclaim childhood memories, or even to tap into a nostalgia for years before they were even born. An artificial nostalgia.
It all started because in 2020, the world compressed itself at home through lockdowns and digital consumption. New parameters emerged: remote work became mainstream, video calls became the norm, Discord, meetings and classes, entire courses went digital. Remote learning emerged as an accessible form of education. Cheap ways of communicating and increasingly instant-gratification social media took over with the rise of TikTok, which came out of nowhere, undermining Snapchat and Instagram and the creation of the fast-paced video feed that contaminated every social network and birthed the concept of "brain-rot" in 2024.
But the pandemic passed and, whenever there is a cultural shift, there will be a counterculture. This concept was coined by Theodore Roszak in the '50s and '60s, revealing significant paradigm shifts to counter an established norm. The digital world was established by the pandemic, a wasteland; what is left now is the cult of the analog.
We are returning to a reality of the past. Mixing nostalgia and old media, today we have movie remakes of '80s and '90s films in theaters, and when it comes to gadgets, the return of MP3 players and discmans... and the list doesn't end there. Remakes of 8, 16, and 32-bit era games pop up constantly. Vinyl records came back with a vengeance post-pandemic. Taylor Swift releases collectible vinyls in different colors, a product of modernity: expensive, niche, collectible, and completely driven by the analog.
The second-hand market is heating up right now. This counterculture has even reached Brazil: people buying old cameras, using film and getting it developed, or even folks using cybershots and portable digital recorders from the 2000s. The point is that this older gear carries a new aesthetic with it. Film and paper photos are different from photos taken on modern cameras or smartphones. And there isn't a filter out there that can replicate the DIY experience.
The crackle of old vinyl music, being able to read the lyrics in the vinyl package, or even collecting CDs... It’s a current trend; I don't know how much longer it will last, but it has already stabilized.
Younger people are looking for an offline connection, replacing screen time with offline time. Crochet, puzzles, board games, amigurumi, sketchbooks, book clubs, chess, painting (Bobbie Goods), zines, bullet journals, drawing, in-person hangouts, outdoor sports, bookstores, museums, concerts, bars, events.
Everything that can replace the phone and the digital excess of the pandemic era is now emerging as a response to a problem. A clear problem: we spend too much time on our screens, social media doesn't deliver as well as it did 10 years ago, and constant, omnipresent advertising is no longer worshipped like it used to be. We are in an era of escaping what digital bubbles created for us, searching for a pre-internet reality.
In this pre-internet context, 90s nostalgia and older dominates, and everything is a commodity. Today, it is all targeted toward age groups that actually lived through that time, who are now between 35 and 50 years old. It’s a market, a memory of something that will never return. A millionaire trade of 90s Pokémon and Magic cards, 80s G.I. Joe figures, LEGOs, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… everything you wanted as a kid but couldn't afford. But now you can afford it, buddy, go on and buy an original Game Boy Color with Pokémon Red/Blue. Go buy a PlayStation and the games you wished for but couldn't have. No matter what it is, go out there and buy it.
The analog market is much broader than just mere nostalgia. It is a series of products and experiences designed to generate more expectation for you, more goals and objectives, and above all, more products to buy. And even modern generations hold an artificial nostalgia for eras they never lived through. Capitalism creates false expectations and memories in search of a reality that deviates from the current digital one.
It’s time to consume, not just buy used products; hardware, software, everything is available, you just need the money and the time to calibrate that '90s digital organizer that is infinitely worse than a smartphone today, but that nostalgia made you buy. Buy it, don't stop, and when the counterculture ends, go back to digital, and buy the next trash they want you to buy. Digital will return. In 5 or 10 years. Until then, walk around with your Walkman listening to Michael Jackson and play your Game Boy Advance while watching the new live-action He-Man movie or some old remake of '90s films like The Lion King.
And that's without even getting into the monster in the closet, AI, but that's a topic for another text.
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