Feature

Why Food Looks Better on Social Media: There’s More Than ‘Meats’ The Eye

Submitted by Angelina Ng

The bountiful ideas of food are extremely popular and trendy on social media. People capturing their favorite restaurant on Instagram with their favorite meal, YouTubers sharing a delicious recipe, or advertisements to promote food. We’ve seen it everywhere in the media and would almost always crave the delectables being shared online. From vibrant and stunning meals to persuasive advertisements in the media, any mouth-watering dish will attract the eye. However, a recipe or a dish on social media can turn out the complete opposite in person: the deception of food on social media conveys the fraud and inaccuracy of how people view certain posts on social media.

With the endless amount of ideas that an individual can make with food, there are always trends to keep up to date with on social media. Popular food trends like cheesy ramen, mochi donuts, Korean BBQ, and hotpot are great to share online and attract others. Not only would these food trends be shared, but users on social media would create a virtual landscape that can completely give a different perspective to what the users are experiencing in real life. 

There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to behind the scenes with photoshoots of meals. The magic of the camera lens can really deceive a person’s perspective: content creators and food enthusiasts will utilize high quality cameras and effects to ensure their photos are vibrant, saturated, and meticulously detailed. Several styling secrets are brought upon social media to depict a picture-perfect image of a dish. Filters are highly used in pictures or videos that display food. These editing tools allow social media users to enhance their color, lighting, and background. 

Social media is known worldwide, and with just a click of a button, your thoughts, pictures, videos, and messages can be shared to the entire world. Ultimately, social media encourages influencers and users to share their best moments on their platform, and this includes showcasing aesthetically pleasing aspects of their lives—a big aspect would be their meals. People are more likely to share their culinary experiences and visually appealing dishes on social media to create a deceiving perception of how ‘well’ one can be eating, or promote their recipe or product, whether it’s great or not. Many content creators and influencers will promote a product in a photo or video to make profit. 

The deception of content that social media shares is undoubtedly captivating. However, many of us tend to forget the numerous factors that contribute to a picture-perfect image. It’s important to remember that these shots are carefully detailed and taken. The goal for these users on social media is to share their experience visually express themselves to engage with their audience. However, next time you surf the web, remember the true deceit that comes behind the scenes.

Follow AAPC’s Instagram!