The internet is currently obsessed with… floppy disks and VHS? If your timeline suddenly looks like it time-traveled to 1987, you’re not alone. A new wave of “retro tech” fan art is blowing up across X, Instagram, and TikTok, led by artists reimagining our favorite apps as if they’d launched in the 1980s. Think Netflix as a brick-sized video cassette, Instagram as a disposable camera kiosk, and Spotify as a chunky Walkman with neon stickers.
This trend isn’t just aesthetic nostalgia—it’s a full-blown social media moment. From graphic designer Luli Kibudi’s viral “Once Appon a Time” series to creators remixing it into filters, memes, and edits, the 80s-internet mashup is dominating For You pages worldwide. Let’s break down why this throwback fantasy is suddenly the coolest thing online.
The Artist Who Broke The Internet With a Floppy Disk
Argentinian graphic designer Luli Kibudi, now based in Barcelona, quietly dropped a series called “Once Appon a Time” — and the internet did NOT stay quiet. Her concept is simple but genius: what if our go-to apps had to exist in the 1980s? WhatsApp becomes an old-school landline, Instagram morphs into a Polaroid wall, Spotify appears as a cassette tape collection. The posts started gaining traction on design forums, then spilled onto X and Instagram explore pages, and now they’re trending on TikTok edits and Pinterest boards too.
What makes her work so shareable is how instantly recognizable each app is, even when stripped of screens and notifications. People are quote-tweeting with “I’d 100% use 80s Spotify” and stitching TikToks comparing their current home screens with Kibudi’s retro versions. Big meme pages have started reposting her art with their own captions, and design influencers are breaking down her color palettes and fonts. When your concept gets copied, remixed, and duetted across three major platforms in 24 hours, you’re not just viral—you’ve hit culture moment status.
TikTok Turned It Into a Full Aesthetic (Obviously)
The second the 80s app art landed on TikTok, creators ran with it. Now there’s an entire micro-aesthetic forming: “Retro App Core.” Users are editing Kibudi-inspired visuals into fake commercial spots, complete with VHS grain and cheesy jingles. Transition videos show people “switching” from their modern phone layouts to 80s-inspired lock screens. One trending sound features synthwave music over slides of AI-generated 1980s versions of TikTok, BeReal, Uber, and even Duolingo.
CapCut templates are doing serious numbers: “If Instagram Was Invented In 1985,” “Your Home Screen, But Retro,” and “Design Your 80s Phone” all have thousands of uses. Some creators are going meta—filming themselves on modern iPhones, then overlaying CRT TV effects to make it look like found footage from 1986. The comments are full of “I was born in 2005 but I want this life so bad” and “We skipped this era and I’m mad about it.” When a whole generation gets nostalgic for a time they never lived through, that’s algorithm gold.
Millennials Are Cry-Cheering in the Comments
This trend hits different for people who actually remember pre-smartphone life. Millennials and older Gen Z are turning the “1980s apps” craze into storytime content. Under every viral post, there’s a flood of comments like “I literally had this exact camera” or “My mom had that phone in the kitchen.” Creators are stitching the art with their own childhood photos: dial-up modems, early MP3 players, first-generation Nokias, and yes, that one family computer that took up half a desk.
On X, people are posting side-by-side shots: Kibudi’s 80s-inspired Instagram vs. their real 2010s Instax prints; her Netflix VHS mock-up vs. their old Blockbuster membership card. It’s nostalgia, but with structure—there’s a recognizable visual language to rally around. The result? Highly shareable threads and carousel posts captioned, “Like this if you remember when this was your ONLY app.” It’s emotional without being heavy, fun without being empty, and extremely easy to repost with your own spin.
Brands Are Low-Key Sliding Into the Trend
You know a social media trend is peaking when brands start showing up—and they absolutely are. Design-savvy companies are already posting their own “If We Launched in 1986” mockups: retro logos, distressed print textures, fake magazine ads. Streaming platforms are sharing VHS-style cover art of their originals. A few fast-food chains have dropped 80s menu board edits featuring their apps as clunky touch-tone order lines. These posts are racking up saves and shares because they feel more like fan art than ads.
Some tech brands are getting extra clever, posting stories like “Our 1980s App Patch Notes” with fake bug fixes like “Improved cassette rewinding speed” and “Added new analog filters for Polaroid uploads.” The best ones are crediting the original “Once Appon a Time” series or mentioning the trend explicitly, which makes them feel plugged-in instead of cringe. Expect at least one major platform to roll out an official 80s-style interface for April Fools or a limited theme mode—because the demand is clearly there, and the comments are basically begging for it.
Everyone Wants Their Own Retro Avatar Now
The most viral-friendly part of the whole wave? Personalization. Users aren’t just liking and scrolling—they’re asking, “Okay, but what would my phone look like in 1987?” That’s driving the next evolution of the trend: retro profile pics, custom wallpapers, and AI prompts that turn people’s current home screens into analog dream setups. Prompt-based AI tools are overflowing with requests like “design my phone as an 80s gadget” and “turn TikTok into a 1980s TV channel.”
On Instagram, illustrators are taking commissions to draw people as 80s “app users,” complete with big hair, wired headphones, and cassette-filled backpacks. Pinterest boards titled “Digital But Make It Vintage” are collecting all the best examples—Kibudi’s originals, fan spin-offs, and free templates for DIY phone backgrounds. This is the part of the cycle where a trend goes from “just another cool post” to “I need this on my lock screen, right now.” As long as people are using the art to customize their digital lives, the algorithm has a reason to keep pushing it.
Conclusion
The viral “1980s apps” trend is hitting that rare sweet spot where nostalgia, design nerdiness, and meme culture all overlap. Luli Kibudi’s “Once Appon a Time” series lit the match, and social media turned it into a full-blown retro-internet wildfire—TikTok edits, brand remixes, millennial memory dumps, and personalized retro avatars included.
If your feed looks like a synth-heavy sci-fi movie from 1985, lean into it. Screenshot your favorite 80s app redesign, slap it on your lock screen, or try imagining your own go-to app as a chunky piece of analog tech. The future might be all about AI and AR, but right now, the internet just wants to rewind—and post it.
Key Takeaway
The most important thing to remember from this article is that this information can change how you think about Social Media.
