Credited to designer Aza Raskin, the introduction of the infinite scroll removed the friction of clicking “next page” or “refresh.” It drew on early web experiments with dynamic content loading and subtle momentum cues to make information feel continuous. First popularized by Facebook and Twitter, it birthed the modern concept of the feed as a world of information without edges—an endlessly updating, increasingly personalized stream that functions as our modern town square. It’s where we learn about our cousin’s graduation and what’s happening on a global scale.

Especially for younger generations, this bottomless design has given rise to a culture that refreshes at a similarly frenetic pace—from news cycles, to popular beauty trends, to shifting social norms. The infinite scroll and its dependence on algorithmic curation creates what linguist Adam Aleksic calls “context collapse,”

with the “For You” page driving cross-pollination between communities at viral speed, reshaping identities and creating new affinities.