Between popular hashtags and viral aesthetics, the fascination with roads on social media reflects our collective desire for freedom, escape, and an ever-unreachable elsewhere.
Love this analysis. It also makes me wonder if we're drawn to the image/ idea of the road on social media because we "go to" social apps to be transported somewhere but we rarely have a destination in mind. It legitimises the behaviour of scrolling somehow and gives a tiny hit of the feeling you get early on in a night out when you dont know where the night will take you
I love your analogy with the night. I think there's a quest for something spontaneous (and obv riskier) in digital exploration, vs a very transactional/restrictive UX. And I think that the more we feel constrained or even pre-empted (think about dating apps...), the more it paradoxically creates space for wanderings, errands, and wonders (I guess).
Love this analysis. It also makes me wonder if we're drawn to the image/ idea of the road on social media because we "go to" social apps to be transported somewhere but we rarely have a destination in mind. It legitimises the behaviour of scrolling somehow and gives a tiny hit of the feeling you get early on in a night out when you dont know where the night will take you
I love your analogy with the night. I think there's a quest for something spontaneous (and obv riskier) in digital exploration, vs a very transactional/restrictive UX. And I think that the more we feel constrained or even pre-empted (think about dating apps...), the more it paradoxically creates space for wanderings, errands, and wonders (I guess).
Totally. Surely the samey commercial UX of literally every touchpoint has got to evolve