It’s somewhat thrilling to catch a glimpse of others’ private spaces that are usually hidden from strangers’ eyes. You can’t help but feel intrigued by the amazing views, huge pools or unexpected movie rooms and libraries.

Whether it’s visiting a friend’s apartment for the first time or watching a celebrity’s house tour, most of us catch ourselves scanning every single corner of their place, trying to find out the truth behind the objects and their owners. It appears that questioning the sense of home is closely related to the feeling of belonging on this planet. 

“How we design our living spaces, and the extent of our ability to do so, speaks volumes about our sense of self-worth and our value in relation to others,” environmental psychologist Adeola Enigbokan told Architectural Digest. 

There’s a reason why we are so interested in looking at pictures or videos of other people’s personal belongings. It not only serves as a mental diversion from our uneventful everyday lives, but also “touches people’s experiences of immigration and asylum, exclusion because of gender or sexual identity, rising and falling in class, fear of living alone for the first time after a divorce, and so on.”

Genevieve Garruppo, an interior-design photographer, added that we want to know how others live because we enjoy being the spectators. We look at designs in total amazement while trying to see ourselves—or who we could be—all at the same time.

“Not necessarily in an aspirational way, because good design isn’t always about being able to afford the most expensive things: It’s about making your personal space feel like an idealized version of yourself,” she explained.

Humans have always been a social species, so our interest in others is only natural. According to Anne Chappell, a senior lecturer at Brunel University London, our own stories are formed by the exchanges we have with other people’s lives. Because of the pandemic and the sheer boredom most of us felt under lockdown, this curiosity seems to be reaching new heights. 

While such voyeurism may seem nosy and intrusive, it has some positive effects too. Observing others can help us process the difficulties we face today. We can learn how to react and how to adapt to the changes in our society. Chappell said that looking at other people’s stuff is an act that is often unconscious on our part. 

We’re not doing it because we wish to come into contact with things that are private or prohibited, rather because it helps us make sense of the world around us. “All the stories that we encounter directly in person with other people—and those we read about and see about and hear about and engage with—are all having some kind of impact in shaping our shared understandings of society,” Anne Chappell explained. 

Social media platforms are extremely widely used. They can be considered one of the main methods to temporarily escape our daily lives and get in touch with other humans. During this pandemic, many people feel lost, and this way they get the opportunity to be connected again. 

Of course, it’s not the same as the interactions we have in real life, but when you’re scrolling through your friend’s feed or watching videos of strangers’ homes, you’re unintentionally trying to make sense of the world: “We’re always looking to the Other because we’re storied beings—because we make sense of our lives in relation to others.”