Friday, November 23, 2007

Food Networking

Leafing through the June 2007 issue of Bon Appetit this weekend, I found an article entitled "Food Networking", providing FoodCandy, Extratasty, and BakeSpace as examples of social networking sites focused on food. Social networking, as defined by Bon Appetit, is "the online phenomenon in which people meet on a Web site to talk about subjects they love".

Although the names suggests it, the topics on FoodCandy are not exclusively about candy, but encompass a wide range of foods. You can create a profile to communicate with other members, recommend recipes and restaurants, syndicate your blog, and post videos and podcasts.

On Extratasty, you can find drink recipes and also provide feedback on drinks you have tried and made. You can create a profile and make friends with other users to see their favorite drinks. Recipes can be uploaded onto your iPod for easy access.

BakeSpace is a site to make friends, post recipes, find out about food-related events, and chat using the instant message program called "TeaRoom".

These social networking food sites are different from sites such as AllRecipes because you can create profiles to communicate and associate with other members. In addition, these food social networking sites are comprised of input directly from members such as recipes, videos, comments and recommendations, photos, and discussion forums instead of relying on articles written by staff members, as does AllRecipes.

2 comments:

sash. said...

Food-related social networking sites are a smart idea, considering cooking, and food experimentation is become more and more popular, especially with the younger crowd.

College kids, especially, seem to be really into it these days. Food Network is one the leading TV channels everywhere from dorms to apartments and houses. Though, still, it's refreshing to see that people of all ages can enjoy it.

By participating in these social networking sites, I think a lot of older and younger people can find a common ground to swap recipes and talk about something that surely everyone loves: food!

Afishionado said...

sashana: Although it's safe to say that a lot of people like food and eating, I don't know that many people have a passion for food. I think that some of my friends would find it very strange that I take pictures of my foods and write about them online. In addition, Devin thinks it's very unhealthy that I sit at my computer for hours, just reading food blogs.

These food social networking sites are great for someone like myself to feel comfortable in my slightly excessive interest in food, but they also help to spread the passion for food to others.