Years of rapid tech change and the pandemic disruption is driving a wave of nostalgia | Shelley Hepworth

Our tendency towards rosy recollections of the past has been amplified in recent times, from photos on social media to retro video games

I've always been susceptible to bouts of nostalgia. Defined as sentimental longing for the past", nostalgia was originally identified as an emotion afflicting people who were separated from their homeland - a familiar feeling to someone who called four cities and two countries home by the age of 12.

Modern researchers say nostalgia is experienced more or less the same way by everyone - across countries, ages and genders. When people experience nostalgia, what they typically are doing is bringing to mind and revisiting memories that are special to them, or cherished, or particularly meaningful," says Clay Routledge, a psychological scientist and professor at North Dakota State University.