Throwback Thursday or #TBT is an internet trend commonly used on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc., to capture old events or memories.
On Thursdays, social media users often post nostalgia-inducing content ranging from pictures to videos on their timelines with the hashtag #throwbackthurday or #tbt. Most of these posts capture different eras of their lives or that of others and they reflect positive memories, funny events, old-school, old movies, music, etc.
If you are wondering where the term Throwback Thursday comes from, your answer might just be right here; because we have helped you with the homework.
Like many other internet trends, it is really difficult to ascertain who exactly started this popular hashtag trend but research has shown that it started with someone and has since become a thing.
Where Did Throwback Thursday Really Originate?
However, the origin of the term Throwback Thursday has been attributed to a sneaker-based blog called Nice Nicks.
In July 2006, Matt Halfhill, the owner of the blog began a practice of regular postings of photos of old basketball shoes he liked. He titled the series ‘Throwback Thursday’ on his blog- NiceKicks.com.
Little did he know that the term Throwback Thursday would turn into such a popular trend on social media platforms, although its use originated outside social media.
The term has blown up to the point where #TBT has been used on Instagram over 500 million times.
No one knows for sure if Halfhill was the first person to ever combine the words throwback and Thursday, though the term Throwback Thursday has since blown up after his first use in 2006.
Explaining how he came up with the words, Halfhill said, “It’s allowing yourself to take a break from the news and have a moment to celebrate what happened in the past. We human beings become products of our past experiences — just the same as shoes.”
Throwback Thursday hashtag trend on Twitter
Throwback Thursday spread fairly slowly at first, and it wasn’t until later that it became associated with old photos.
There’s a record on Twitter that a mommy blogger @dawniemom posted a Throwback Thursday post about babies in August 2007, but the picture is no longer online.
The oldest tweet with the hashtag #throwbackthursday came in October 2008 from a Southern California woman on Twitter, S. Pink, who was waxing nostalgic about a 1997 music video by Lil’ Kim.
Throwback Thursday Popularity on Instagram
However, since Instagram was launched in 2010, the use of the hashtag trend, Throwback Thursday or #tbt, has been used on the platform over 500 million times.
On Thursday, February 10, 2011, the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday became a thing on Instagram when 21-year-old Bobby Sanders posted a picture of Hot Wheels Cars using a black and white filter to depict old times, though the cars were not really old.
In the same vein, the first use of the hashtag #tbt was by an Instagram user, Ashro, who posted a photo of a man holding a dog. She captioned it “When our pup was just a baby. #spoiled #tbt.”
By 2012, posting old photos on Instagram on Thursdays with the hashtag Throwback Thursday or #tbt had become so widespread. This has been attributed to Kim Kardashian and her family who consistently adopted the hashtag since February 2012. The hashtag has, however, started gaining traction since then.
Throwback Thursday hashtag trend or #tbt has become so popular on Instagram and has been used by individuals and businesses to increase engagement, grow their audience, and boost brand awareness.
