Thanks to the internet for its plethora of information, most
of it being nonsensical, brings forth knowledge whether you want it or not.
Most of the time, my time on the internet is using social media (Facebook, more
specifically). One of my favorite posts to come by are the ones from this food
page called Tasty. They make the shortest cooking videos known to man with mesmerizing
food shots that would make everyone hungry. They make all sorts of food on
their page, from meaty entrees to this Ultimate Chocolate Cake that apparently
made one of the Tasty producers cry it was so good. I, as well as many other
people on Facebook, fall victim to the black hole that is Tasty and the food
they produce and their viral food videos that are continuously shared
throughout different social media platforms (although I primarily use Facebook,
I’m sure the videos are probably shared via twitter and other social media).
I think Latour’s concept of instruments aides in Tasty’s
appealing visuals from the camera quality to the background music of the
videos. There are also the tools used to make the food that is probably the
most important for the production of the videos since the food is the main
focus.
However, one thing that I think the Tasty videos does that
draws people to it is make their videos short. The fact that you can watch
someone make an Ultimate Chocolate Cake in less than a minute really can draw
in the people, like me, with a short attention span to watch the whole video
and therefore would want to watch more of their videos for their length. So,
you get the shortness of the video with the mouth-watering visuals of delicious
food being made because these people are paid to make and test out foods that
people would want to make. They put in all this work in their food, not just
for the videos, but to actually provide a recipe for people who want to make
the food they see (like the chocolate cake I keep mentioning, I went to their
website for the recipe. I didn’t make it because it’s a lot of work, but at
least its’ there!!)
I like how you discussed Latour's concept of instruments, which fits perfectly with what you are trying to relay. I definitely agree that watching those videos, which are usually short, makes you a victim since you will want to try to make it. I watched a lot of those kinds of video and yes, I definitely notices the background music complementing how they present the dish that they are making.
ReplyDeleteIt is good that they provide easy recipe and such but by doing so they are basically encouraging people to make those kind of food and consume it.