Food photography on social media

The rise of social media in the 21st century has led to restaurant patrons and home cooks taking a digital or smartphone photograph of a meal before eating it.

"[5] The arrival of photographic social media such as Instagram made it easier for people to share their personal food interests with others.

[11] In addition, people can satisfy the psychological needs of "belongingness and love" and "esteem" according to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs[12] as they can share their experiences and show off to the world what they are eating.

[5] Carmel Winery, a restaurant in Israel, gained $400,000 from free promotion by food photos on social media and successfully boosted its sales by 13%.

[13] On the other hand, some chefs in Hong Kong would take "food porn" photos and post them on social media because they thought that the "camera eats first" phenomenon served as a channel for them to collect feedback from customers[14] which is vital information for them to make improvements to their dishes.

[10] The "camera eats first" behavior may result in worsening relationships and weakening connection with others in contrast with the positive effect mentioned.