The drive to capture the perfect image for social media has had all kinds of societal implications — some literally life and death. In this age of digital posturing, entire streets have become bustling tourist attractions for no other reason than a building’s paint color, the presence of a kitschy sign, or a trending hashtag.
So what is it like to live on the most popular street on Instagram? Apparently hellish and humorous all at the same time.
Residents of Rue Crémieux in Paris are so fed up with the traffic, the photos, and the flash mobs that they’re begging their city to take action. The homeowner’s association there recently asked local officials to close the street off to unauthorized visitors on weekends and evenings.
“We sit down to eat and just outside we have people taking photos—rappers who take two hours to film a video right beneath the window, or bachelorette parties who scream for an hour,” one resident told CityLab. “Frankly, it’s exhausting.”
Some people are fighting back through good, old fashioned ridicule. One neighbor created a social media account to document the ridiculous things people do for a like-worthy post featuring their street. Its tagline is “shit people do Rue Crémieux.”
Just how bad does it actually get? Check out the photos of Rue Crémieux antics for yourself here.