Food Options vs. The Web

When we discussed about how the web is changing the way we eat, I now start to think about the purpose behind the people posting pictures of their food, instead of just liking their photos and responding to myself, "That looks good." Are they posting them because they want to just show people how well they prepared a meal, or do they want to inform people about new ideas for recipes, or are they bragging that their food is better than any food that someone else is eating at that time? After talking about this topic, I recognize photos taken of food more often and it seems like they show up on a more consistent basis than before.

Restaurants and companies are able to gain free publicity when a photo is taken of their food and shared to the whole world. However, with not only regular citizens now uploading their meals to social media, but companies and restaurants doing it as well,  it is very convenient and easy to check many different online sites for information and news about a restaurant's food. This allows customers to decide between multiple food options. I usually do research on a restaurant if I have never been there before and I like to know what food options are available to me.

I have not noticed if people have really changed their meal portions because they are persuaded by these postings on social media sites, but I have noticed that restaurants have chosen the route of serving smaller portions or trying to make portions healthier. Furthermore, restaurants have decided to offer gluten-free options or meals under a certain number of calories on their menus, such as Applebee's. I tend to take advantage of these offers because through specific information available constantly online, I am able to see just how unhealthy some meals are. As a result, I do not think that it is necessarily always pictures of food that impact my meal decisions.