Mostly because they create a mood people like—especially nostalgia. Vintage-style edits can make an image feel familiar, emotional, or evocative in a way that a clean digital file may not.

They also became much more common once apps and presets made the look easy to apply. What used to take effort is now often a one-click effect, so naturally more people use it.

Like any visual trend, overuse weakens its impact. A style that feels fresh and expressive at first can become predictable once it’s everywhere. That doesn’t make the effect meaningless; it just means trends cycle. Retro looks become popular, get overdone, fade, and may return later in a new form.

So the short answer is: people use these effects because they like the feeling they suggest, and because modern tools make them simple to reproduce.