Digital privacy means nothing when social media platforms own your archive. You posted freely in 2016 because the grip wasn't obvious yet. No AI curation. No constant tracking. Just you, your filtered photos, and the illusion that your digital life belonged to you. Now those companies are pulling you back into dormant content, calling it nostalgia, making you feed the algorithm with memories you thought were yours.

Rajhans explains why people are celebrating 2016 as retro: "People would have put filters on pictures in order to make them perfect. And right now when people are sharing their 2016 experiences on current social media, it's almost fun that that was quote unquote, a simpler time." Shane notes Millennials celebrate the simpler internet while Gen X celebrates no internet. The difference? One generation has an archive they don't control. The other never built one. "No longer is your group chat as private as you think," Rajhans warns.

Understand why your old photos are being weaponized for engagement. Learn how apps access your address book without permission. Discover what happens when an entire generation's history lives in someone else's database.

GUEST: Mohit Rajhans | http://thinkstart.ca

Originally aired on 2026-01-16