Happiful September 2020

How social media
has shaped the
way we eat
Food, glorious food – it’s all over Twitter,
Instagram, Pinterest, and the rest. And our
insatiable online appetite has changed our
mental and physical relationship with what
we actually put on our plates
Writing | Pixie Turner
Social media occupies
two out of every five
minutes we spend online,
and boy do we spend
a lot of time online. Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, YouTube…
these platforms have become a
standard part of our lives – to the
point where we can’t imagine life
without them.
As someone who’s career started
on Instagram, I’ve always had a
certain curiosity about how we
humans navigate and process
these online spaces. In particular,
I’ve become curious about how
social media has changed the way
we eat. The answer, it turns out, is
a lot.
SOCIAL MEDIA ALLOWS US TO
COMPARE OUR FOOD
What and how much we choose to
eat is influenced by those around
us, both physically and virtually.
When we eat in large groups, we
tend to eat more, which is not in
itself a bad thing as the benefits of
human connection go beyond what
any single food can offer.
Seeing picture after picture of
delicious food on our phones can
provide us with great inspiration
– after all, food is one of the most
popular categories on Pinterest
– but this can easily descend into
comparison. Some comparison
is normal and human, but the
amount of information we’re
receiving over the internet is often
more than our brains are equipped
to handle.
There is always someone online
whose food is prettier, more
popular, more enticing. There is
always someone whose stomach
is flatter, whose legs are stronger,
whose smile is wider. Thin and
toned fitness bloggers post ‘What I
Eat in a Day’ videos, enabling us to
compare every morsel and make
modifications, so we can eat like
them to look like them.
This is despite the fact that
people often edit what they eat and
publish online to make themselves
look better. This comparison often
ends with us feeling inadequate
and disheartened.
SOCIAL MEDIA ENABLES
FOOD EXTREMISM
Ever wondered why extreme
content gets more clicks and likes
online? It turns out there are
several reasons.
Firstly, social media algorithms
are designed to show you more
of what you interact with. If you
search for ‘how to start running’
and watch a few videos on
YouTube, it’ll end up pushing
you towards more extreme
content with titles like ‘I ran
six ultramarathons in six days!’ >>>
September 2020 • happiful.com • 73