Oh man, you don't? I remember the Mayan calendar 2012 thing, and how at the end of 2011 people were like "maybe it'd be better if the world did end next year." And then at the end of 2016, I think largely with the run-up to and fallout from the election in the US, people were posting stuff like "hey don't say 2017 is gonna be your year, we don't need to tempt fate like that, just be really quiet and make no sudden moves." We're around the same age, so I dunno, maybe I was just too online then.
2011 was the first year I remember that kind of doomerism around New Year's Eve. I feel like I remember 2012-2015 being pretty normal, but then it got super amped up in 2016 (understandably) and we haven't really had a "normal" (non-doomish) New Year's since.