In my double-post about social being stale I wrote about how Instagram is being destroyed by Tiktok because its content has become completely monotonous and Tiktok’s morphs daily. That hasn’t changed at all and probably won’t, despite all their best efforts. While that’s a problem for me, since I only open Instagram to talk with friends and turn my brain off completely, it’s also become a problem for food influencers whose [supplemental] income depends on their follower and engagement figures
While now it’s cringe to have entire pages dedicated to food (same can be said about dogs, travel, etc.), the pioneers of the “phone eats first” movement changed the world dramatically. Restaurants who were known for quality food and impressive presentations now actually got to flex their creations on a larger scale and customers would flock. Instagram influencers were reporters in a sense, dropping knowledge about cool new restaurants and/or dishes and giving a first report.
Eater NY published a piece a few weeks ago about how these Instagram influencers’ pages and authority have been decimated with the rise of Tiktok. While the content hasn’t changed much at all aside from the video requirement, Eater hit the nail on the head with this quote from an interview: “Before you could just post a picture of yourself holding this crazy burger, and it would get 20,000 or 30,000 likes, [now] you have to tell some sort of story”. The idea is the same from one medium to the other, show food or restaurants that cause hungry and envy, but the narrative requires work.
Tiktok doesn’t allow influencers to get away with simply sharing a picture of a beautiful pasta dish, a geotag of the location, and a witty caption. Sure, they can video the food, but they won’t get the engagement they’re likely seeking out. What makes Tiktok special is the storytelling required of each upload. Generally the stories are kind of vanilla… “we were walking in the West Village and stumbled upon X” or “we went to Rockaway for the weekend and ate like royalty at these places”, but they have personality. Influencers are still competing for the same market, but because of the way Tiktok’s For You Page is different from Instagram’s timeline, it doesn’t matter if there are hundreds of people producing the same thing, quality storytelling rises to the top because of the algorithm.
However, restaurants have a new competitor that never showed its head on Instagram. Meal-preppers and at home chefs. The Tiktok universe is flooded with them and they are racking up huge amounts of followers. One of the most popular, Emily Mariko, has become famous for almost being the anti-influencer. The anti-influencer with 11M followers. She cooks at home and primarily focuses on showing people how to cook simple things well. But she does so without having the beautiful kitchen, the expensive gadgets, or anything like that - she’s just another 30 year old who is famous on Tiktok. It resonates with people because that could be anyone. There’s no Hampton House shots, no private jet, expensive trips to Italy. It’s just her in her kitchen adulting.
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Narratives are shaping how well businesses succeed, not just influencers. You can see it with brands like Aime Leon Dore, with its rich storytelling of being shaped by Queens, Greece, and New York City. It’s evident in companies like HBO, where quality content is king or Airbnb which just wants you to explore.
Narratives don’t come easy. They emerge when a genuine customer problem emerges and needs to be solved. For food influencers, it can be as simple as “I don’t know where to eat tonight” or “I don’t know where to cook this week”. For Airbnb it was as simple as “I can’t afford a hotel / I don’t like how impersonal hotels are, give me culture”. But businesses that exist for the sake of existing and don’t tell a narrative will struggle to compete and maintain talent.