In-between posts and tweets, we eat: report

3 hrs.

Athima Chansanchai

Food appears to be a thriving social media driver, with photo sharing, recipe look-ups and exchanges, deal shopping, recommendations and other ingredients constantly adding to the culinary culture.

A consulting firm, The Hartman Group, recently published a report called, "Clicks & Cravings:?The Impact of Social Technology on Food Culture" that surveyed?1,641 adult U.S. consumers ages 18 to 64 between Dec. 5 and 11.

It's apparent that people don't separate eating time from social media time, as the survey found 29 percent respondents said they have used a social?networking site while eating or drinking at home in the last month, and 19 percent have done so away from home. Another 32 percent have either texted or used a social networking site or app in the last month while eating or drinking. Millennials probably have the most tendency to eat and tweet, with 47 percent texting or using social media while eating or drinking.

Lunch is the most common time for folks to access social media while they're chomping down on a meal, the Hartman Group found, but this kind of activity happens all day. "Consumers virtually break bread by sharing their food experiences, uploading photos?and posing stories."

And, they "desire better and more highly specialized tools for shopping and meal planning. Moms and primary cooks and?shoppers want easy-to-use apps that can make shopping, meal planning and saving money easier for them."

Hartman found most consumers fall on a continuum of not very engaged to very engaged when it comes to combining food and social media:

• 82 percent visit social network sites monthly, 75 percent use Facebook monthly and 49 percent say they learn about food via social networking. Fewer online adults (40 percent) say they learn about food via websites, apps or blogs. Mobile food apps weren't that popular, with only 9 percent of respondents downloading them in the past year;? 5 percent say they scanned a ?Quick Response? (QR) Code in a store in the past month.
  
• They're also looking online more vs. print publications for food resources, with 46 percent saying they spent more time engaged online vs. 31 percent?who say they are equally engaged with online and print. "Consumers still use traditional resources for inspiration about food but new technologies are catching up ... Among Millennials, online media resources have overtaken print?(such as magazines or cookbooks) and food TV shows as their most valued sources of inspiration when it comes to food."?
  
• Food TV shows inspire 31 percent of respondents, while 25 percent give credit to recipe websites or phone apps for their muse. Finally, restaurant reviews or phones apps inspired 17 of those surveyed.
  
• Consumers are also seeking online communities for help, with 47 percent of respondents saying ?they've searched for online/digital coupons/specials, while 42 percent say they've searched online recipes.
  

The most engaged are social media ?Doers? who are highly active in both food and social media and create content that?inspires followers. "Doers" can be virtual brands themselves and are typically bloggers. Doers convert the ?public? into their?friends, fans, and followers. They are a very small segment of online adults. Social media ?Dreamers? are active social media users that connect people and curate and push food -- and other -- related?content through social networks in ways that reflect their styles and sensibilities. They aspire to have larger followings and?more influence than they currently do. Social media "Spectators? use social media as an extension of their actual social networks of friends, family, colleagues and schoolmates. They use social media for product reviews, recipes and good deals. ?

Of these, spectators are the most prolific consumers, with 60 percent of online consumers say they read social networking ?sites weekly vs. 47 percent who say they contribute weekly. 32 percent of consumers say they read social networking sites daily vs. 18 percent who say they contribute daily.

This report confirms what many of us probably already know: Social media is a means of vicariously sampling other cuisines -- how many times have you salivated over photos that friends post? -- or for getting heads-up on new places to eat, new techniques or products to try.?

On Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/between-status-updates-tweets-we-eat-report-278059

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