written by Reagan McGowan, Kate Cooper, Maggie Baker & Emma Stromberg
This blog feature is an exclusive bonus installment to the Spring 2026 issue of Blending Magazine: Are the Streets still Made for Dreaming?
After you finish reading, be sure to explore the rest of the magazine online—just follow this link to download the full Fall 2025 edition:
https://jschoolfua.com/images/BM/BM_151.pdf
Note: Some interviewees within this article did not provide last names and are identified by first name only.
Florence has long been a city that invites curiosity. Its narrow streets, Renaissance architecture, and centuries of art and history naturally inspire those who walk through it. Traditionally, visitors arrived eager to learn, to wander, and to discover. However today, that sense of exploration often begins long before arrival, through a screen.
This piece began with a simple question: are study abroad students and tourists experiencing Florence for themselves, or are they chasing a version of the city they’ve already seen online? To explore this, conversations were held with locals and visitors across Florence focusing on how social media shapes movement, behavior, and perception within the city.
At a small bar near Piazza Santo Spirito, Marco, a bar owner described a daily routine he has come to expect. Tourists order drinks, often Aperol spritzes, and immediately begin taking tons of pictures of them.
“Every day I see people ordering a spritz and taking five pictures before they even drink it,” he said.
For Marco, the shift is clear. Where visitors once lingered over conversation or asked about local wines, many now seem focused on documenting the moment rather than living in it.
This behavior extends far beyond cafés. Near Ponte Vecchio, Sofia, a jewelry vendor, watches tourists pause in nearly identical spots along the bridge, often for long periods of time.
“Many people come here and say, This is the spot from Instagram,” she explained.
What was once a passageway now becomes a staging ground for recreated photos. Even meals, traditionally a central part of Italian culture, have become part of this visual routine. Giulia, a server at a trattoria near Piazza del Duomo, noted that it is rare for customers to begin eating immediately.
“Before they eat anything, they take pictures,” she said.
She has also noticed that social media influences what people order, with visitors sometimes requesting dishes or drinks they have seen online, rather than asking for local recommendations.
Florence is increasingly navigated not through spontaneous exploration, but through a digital checklist. Visitors move between locations they have already seen online, following paths rather than discovering spots organically. This pattern has physical effects on the city too. Certain locations become densely crowded while others, equally rich in character, remain unseen by many.
Yet, the influence of social media is not entirely negative. For some, it serves as a gateway rather than a limitation. Andrea, who works in a gelato shop near Via dei Neri, explains that many customers discover the shop through Instagram or TikTok.
While some take a quick photo and leave, others stay, ask questions, and engage more deeply.
“It depends on the person… Some come for the photo, but others stay and talk.”
Among study abroad students, there is also an awareness of this dynamic. At Piazzale Michelangelo, Emily, a student from the United States, admits that she had seen the view online before arriving. While she found it just as beautiful in person, she was struck by the crowds.
For locals like Luca, a university student, this shift has subtly changed the atmosphere of the city.
“Sometimes it makes the city feel more like a stage than a real place,” he said, describing how public spaces are increasingly treated as backdrops for photoshoots rather than real places.
And yet, despite these changes, Florence continues to offer moments that resist this pattern. In Piazza della Signoria, street musician Matteo performs for crowds that often begin by filming, but sometimes stay to listen.
“Those moments feel more genuine,” he said. For him, the city’s ability to inspire has not completely disappeared. “Even if people come because of Instagram, once they are here, they still experience the beauty of the city.”
Florence today exists in a space between performance and presence. Social media shapes how people arrive, where they go, and what they prioritize. It creates expectations, and influences behavior. But it does not fully define Florence.
The city still offers something deeper, found not in perfectly framed photos, but in small, unscripted moments: a conversation in broken Italian, a quiet street discovered without intention, a song that makes someone stop and listen.
The question, then, is not simply whether visitors are chasing an Instagram version of Italy. It is whether they allow that version to be the only one they see.