Social Eaters
How Social Media has Impacted the Culinary World
As many of you know, I absolutely love eating food and trying new restaurants. Trying restaurants and writing blog posts about them has become one of my major hobbies and passions. In this blog post, I will discuss how social media has impacted the culinary world.
For starters, online food reviews and food blogs has changed the culinary industry drastically. This could either be taken as a disadvantage or an advantage. If the reviewer did not like the food, service, or overall experience at the restaurant, then the reader might not want to even try that restaurant. In this case it would be a disadvantage for the restaurant. If the reviewer loved it then that is free advertising for the restaurant, an advantage. You all have read my food reviews and seen which restaurants I like and recommended. I hope that you all might have tried one of the restaurants I recommended. Here is another blog that focuses on food reviews. Read this blog, A Girl Has to Eat, for more food reviews.
People like the aesthetic that food provides for the eye. That’s why people post pictures of their food on social media. This also made an impact on the culinary world because now there is an added pressure on chefs to make food even more aesthetically pleasing, as well as tasteful. Food blogs have become a place where aspiring chefs can show their talent by posting their recipes with an aesthetically pleasing image of the food to draw people in to wanting to try the recipe. Let’s face it, people don’t want to try food that doesn’t look appetizing. Not only do chefs create a great environment for their followers to rely on them for amazing recipes, but they also create a personal relationship with them by telling them about their life or sharing their social media accounts with them. One blog that I love to go to for recipes is Lexi’s Clean Kitchen. On this blog, the chef, Lexi, shares her recipes that she loves to make and pairs the recipes with an appealing picture. Her pictures of the food always make me want to try to make the recipe. Not just because the food looks appetizing, but also because I love to put my skills to the test.
Another way that social media has impacted the culinary world is the fact that people want to interact with the food. No, I don’t mean they want to talk to the food itself, they want to be able to interact with the brand, the restaurant. Just like in my last post where I talked about how fans love to interact with their favorite musicians, people love to interact with their favorite restaurants. The more a food chain interacts with their follows/customers, the more the customers think that they are cared for by the brand. This, combined with good food and customer service, creates brand loyalty.  For more tips on how to create customer loyalty in your restaurant, take a look at this blog by AppInstitute.
Lastly, one of the main impacts that social media and the development of society has had on the culinary world is the desire for grouped products or cooking kits. Food has been brought to a whole new level and laziness has impacted grocery shopping to encourage people to order a kit with groceries in it and set recipes to make cooking easier. Now we have companies like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron that simply deliver food to your front door so that you can just open the box and cook the food. This has limited people’s desire to grocery shop. I’m not sure if this is an advantage or a disadvantage for the culinary world. I can see why it would be a disadvantage for grocery stores because they are losing a huge market. However, for restaurants it is an advantage because the lazier people get to not want to go grocery shopping, the more likely they are to want to go to a restaurant.
For more like this blog, take a look at 10 ways Social Media Has Changed the Way We Eat. This blog explains a similar topic to mine, more in depth. Please like and share this blog and comment what your favorite food is. Is there a food blog that you enjoy reading? comment it below!
