Influence of Social Media on Food Trends

W. (n.d.). 57,300+ Food Blogging Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock. Retrieved from https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/food-blogging

Everyone knows that internet trends not only affect our brains but also our food preferences. In the new generation, it's really important to be trendy and to know all about everyday news.

This article explores how our apps and online sites affect our food choices. First things first, we tend to choose foods that we have already seen somewhere. Especially bloggers are making a lot of money from monetizing particular products so other people can buy them. Afterwards, vulnerable people purchase it, and sometimes they are delighted with their choices, and sometimes they are not.

S. (2023, August 3). How To Start A Food Blog (2023 Guide). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/how-start-food-blog/

Secondly, visual appeal. Millions of social media platforms are prioritising the visual beauty of food. This can lead to picky preferences in food and attachment to "beautiful pictures" of dishes.

Thirdly, a healthy and well-being cult. Apps like TikTok and Instagram are now full of aesthetic videos and photos of people's healthy lifestyles. Influencers make ordinary people buy "healthy products" and get rid of "bad" ones. That's not only affecting our relationship with food but also decreasing our self-esteem.

Ordway, D. M. (2021, March 18). A main reason people share fake news: Lack of attention, study finds. Retrieved from https://journalistsresource.org/media/share-fake-news-social-media/

Fourthly, access to information. Everyone has access to the internet, and it's not a great secret. Now we have the possibility to try thousands of recipes and find "our" dish eventually. It shapes our understanding of particular dishes as well as our preferences.

And last but not least, peer acceptance and social validation. Social media only seeks the perfect picture of everyday routine. It's really popular among teenagers to seek the acceptance and understanding of their peers online, so they adapt their food choices to societal norms and other people's preferences.

In conclusion, it is impossible to overstate the impact of social media on dietary patterns. Social media platforms have completely changed how we find, share, and interact with food over the last ten years. Social media has facilitated the growth of an international food community that has no geographical bounds, from visually stunning food photography to viral recipe videos.