Along with screenshots of your Pandora and chain letters, posting pictures of your food is one of the most annoying things you can do on a social network. Regardless, legions of food-posting users may have found a way to leverage their enthusiasm. Restaurants are now offering perks to patrons for posting pictures of their food to Instagram. (Read the original article here)
Many of the perks offered are off-menu freebies, such as an horchata-flavored milkshake from Antique Taco in Chicago, or a hazelnut-and-espresso ice pop from 83 ½ on New York's Upper East Side. The Empellon Cocina, a Mexican restaurant in New York City, has its hashtag printed on the menu so Twitter users can link their tweets to the restaurant.
Restaurants like Empellon Cocina and Antique Taco are recognizing the real potential of posting your food to Instagram. From an influential user, that horchata milkshake could get as many as 800 “likes” in a few hours. “It's almost like they're becoming a brand ambassador on behalf of the restaurant,” owner David Rodolitz said in the Journal article. “Sharing” your meal in picture form is a digital invitation to share the experience, which is a powerful marketing tool.
Let's take this beyond the marketing strategy.
Sharing a meal is a powerful way to build community; it allows a group of people to experience the same thing at the same time, together. That's why the Jewish law gave so many restrictions on what to eat and how to prepare it; not eating the same things was an immediate and visceral way to establish the “otherness” of the Hebrews as they sought to fulfill their priesthood to the nations. It seems like the restaurants' strategy to get their food posted is an attempt to digitize another important quality of community (i.e., Facebook revolutionized friendship, Twitter revolutionized following, and Instagram is revolutionizing fellowship).
Step back a minute. Sure, you can get a burger out of it, but do 1,000 people really care what you just ate? And does sharing a picture really satisfy the human need for companionship? The digital community is a poor substitute, not a replacement.
For those of us less connected, maybe we'd be better off calling a friend to meet for coffee. I can't promise it'll be free, but I can promise other incentives – like a conversation longer than 140 characters.
Do you agree? Do you think digital dining has an impact on genuine community? Comment below and continue the discussion...
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This post was written by Lucas Zellers, our summer intern.
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