S1E6: Eat, shoot and post: What makes a good food reviewer?

The Straits Times Podcasts

Scroll social media and you’ll likely be served a food recommendation or review, often one that’s either enthused or a takedown of sorts.

Synopsis: The Straits Times’ Natasha Ann Zachariah explores contemporary societal choices and youth perspectives.

If someone takes videos of their food and serves them with a side of honest opinions, does that make them a good food reviewer?

Singapore is a nation of foodies, and we're passionate about what we eat. But it seems like many food creators often go in with quick overviews, giving honest reviews or enthused recommendations without much context on social media.
Intrigued by this proliferation of content creators who feed their audience with clickbaity spiel and pepper their food recommendations with superlatives, I wanted to find out the highlights and pitfalls of online food reviewers in this age of quick-fire social media content.
To help me answer questions I have about this crowded scene, I invited food and lifestyle content creator Chiara Ang, second-generation hawker Melvin Chew, and former home-based baker-turned-marketing entrepreneur Then Zhi Wei to weigh in on the practices that make a good food review.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:35 Are there too many food reviewers on social media?
6:59 Being brutally honest
13:00 Eating at an establishment where you find your dish to be sub-par: To post or not to post online?
18:36 Adding value with food content
27:35 Showcase more than just the menu
34:07 What consumers should look out for when consuming 'social media' food reviews

Follow Natasha on her IG account and DM her your thoughts on this topic: https://str.sg/8Wav

Host: Natasha Zachariah ([e-mail])

Edited by producers: Teo Tong Kai, Eden Soh and Zachary Lim

Executive producers: Ernest Luis and Lynda Hong

Filmed by: Joel Chng and Marc Justin De Souza, ST Video

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Chapters

1. Eat, shoot and post: What makes a good food reviewer? (00:00:00)

2. Are there too many food reviewers? (00:02:35)

3. Being brutally honest (00:06:59)

4. Eating at a bad place: should you post it? (00:13:00)

5. Adding value with food content (00:18:36)

6. Showcase more than just the menu (00:27:35)

7. What consumers should look out for? (00:34:07)