The Instagram account, @spoonuniversity, operates from the perspective of exploring the best places to go to in different college towns. With over 250 campus chapters across the country, Spoon targets a college audience and provide details on the best locations to go to. From booming college towns like Boston and New York to more quaint areas such as Indiana or Missouri, there are dishes out there waiting for everyone. Additionally, Instagram food accounts often post features of quick mini recipes that viewers can save for later. Compared to the old-school way of searching through a cookbook or looking at Giada De Laurentiis’ complicated recipe on The Food Network, Instagram has transformed aspirations for cooking at home in an easy and manageable way. Not only are there restaurant
recommendations, but there are also food accounts dedicated to a variety of focuses, with the most popular ones being desserts, sushi, beverages and brunch. These platforms allow students and locals in those cities to explore new places and try new cuisines. Loving and discovering food has never been so easy. The popularity of Snapchat also contributes to the promotion of food culture. Often times, when an individual is presented with their dish of choice, they will publish an image or video to their story with a geotag of the restaurant’s name. Snapchat stories function as an outlet to allow friends and family member to see the events and locations of an individual’s life and stay updated with their activities. As these contents are posted, viewers may become tempted to visit these specific locations as well. This leads to a
growing acknowledgment of the restaurant and confirms the idea that social media has made a positive impact on food culture. Another platform that has contributed to the food community is Yelp. Yelp is an online search service provided to offer recommendations on local businesses through crowdsourced reviews. It allows an individual to see which restaurants are popular in their area through customer ratings and reports. Although this also gives coverage to local restaurants, biased reviews from one person may unfairly skew the restaurant’s reputation. The rise of social media has given the food culture a boost into the spotlight like never before. With people striving to find the best places to eat and to share the latest spots in town with others, food has become a uniting agent for people with similar interests.
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