The term “food porn” may have meant something different just a few years ago, but now that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Yelp are part of our lives, so too is the impulse to share what we happen to be eating at any given moment.
Food porn and its presence on social media is controversial (and, many of us feel, unfairly so), but for every hater, there is a craving sparked or a reblog or just likes achieved. Like it or not, food porn on Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook are here to stay — but why?
In part, food porn is a thing due to advanced technology. Just six or seven short years ago, most of us used Razr phones and Facebook wasn’t as big of a thing. Smartphone ubiquity makes the sharing of anything far easier — so why not food?
WTOP took an in-depth look at food porn, and says the phenomenon is not only a way to exhibit, but to consume knowledge. One recent study of the sharing and socialing of food indicated:
“As consumers use social media to discover, learn, and share information about food, they quickly become more active participants in food culture … They look to bloggers and the opinions of online others to expand their culinary horizons and make purchase decisions.”
But while Facebook friends may tire of your food porn (and hey! I tire of your snot-nosed kid, but you don’t hear me passive-aggressively bitching), another group has a bit of an issue with it — restaurants. iPhone cameras and their compatriots are notoriously iffy — and the result is often unflattering:
“This can also have its drawbacks – a bad photo or review is instantly seen by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Poor lighting, a half-eaten plate of gnocchi or a disintegrating spicy tuna roll will receive heckles online at best, or draw the attention of a feisty critic at worst.”
Whether or not users and chefs like it, it seems food porn is slowly become a major part of social media. Where do you stand on the trend?
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