What's the Difference Between Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday?

Which hashtag should you use?

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
  • University of Ontario
  • George Brown College
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
lifewire's editorial guidelines
Updated on October 16, 2020
Reviewed by
Lisa Mildon
Lisa Mildon
Reviewed by Lisa Mildon
  • Southern New Hampshire University
Lisa Mildon is a Lifewire writer and an IT professional with 30 years of experience. Her writing has appeared in Geekisphere and other publications.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

If you spend time on social media, you've heard of Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday. social-media users may post an image, video, or song from the past and tag the post with #ThrowbackThursday or #FlashbackFriday, depending on what day of the week it is.

Probably you can work out the meaning from the hashtag itself, but why two of them? What's the difference between Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday?

An illustration showing Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday hashtags
Lifewire

Overall Findings

Throwback Thursday

  • Hashtag for social media users to reflect on memories, trends, products, or bits of pop culture from the past.

  • No rules to what you can attach to a hashtag, so no difference from Flashback Friday other than Throwback Thursday is more popular.

Flashback Friday

  • Slightly less popular than Throwback Thursday but the same general purpose.

  • Another chance to reflect on memories, trends, products, or bits of pop culture from the past—this time on a Friday.

Judging by the Google Trends data, #FlashbackFriday is has been around longer than #ThrowbackThursday. Still, the latter appears to be more popular today. Both trends took off in 2013. Throwback Thursday may be more popular because it's a more active time for social media in general.

The definitions of throwback and flashback may differ slightly, but the point is the alliteration. Both hashtags are used to reflect on memories, movies, songs, shows, products, events, or trends from the past. Content shared for each hashtag is almost indistinguishable.

Users Treat Content on Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday the Same

Generally speaking, use #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT when you post on a Thursday, and #FlashbackFriday or #FBF when you post on a Friday. Flashback Friday may be helpful for people who forgot to post something on a Thursday.

Then again, there are no rules for what you can attach a hashtag to. So, there's no difference between Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday. There's no codified timeframe or subject matter for posting because there are no curators for content other than the mass of people who engage with it. You don't even have to post on a Thursday or Friday. Sometimes you'll find users ​posting photos or videos with no nostalgic quality or making their #ThrowbackThursday posts on a Sunday.

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