Are you a complete foodie? Are your friends complaining about your using terms like food porn? Are your three-times-a-day mobile uploads of your plate getting reported as spam by your nearest and dearest? If the answer to these questions is yes, you may enjoy a new social networking site that plugs into Twitter and Facebook, called Foodie.
First, the bad. Foodie is in beta, which is quickly obvious when you sign up. I’m prompted to choose people to follow, but have trouble finding a way to actually search for who’s on the site (hint: click on Foodies in the top menu). Foodie automatically has me following their page, and I can’t figure out how to unfollow it. I can find some chefs and food writers I’m interested in, but their pages are either Twitter-streamed links to already existent sites or, in the case of one chef, a list of all the people now following him on Foodie. When I click over to the recipe section and type in my most pressing need of “gluten-free” meals, the results are a mixed bag with some recipes completely gluten-free, some offering gluten-free varieties, and some that call for all-purpose flour. That’s full of gluten, for those not in the know. With no way to automatically filter recipes by type or ingredient, as so many online recipe resources do, this section needs a lot of work. The site is really new, so the forum area is sparse. As I’m writing this, there are five topics posted, only one of which has any replies. The menu page says it’s coming soon, as do the chef and restaurant pages.
On to the good – first, the pictures are gorgeous. I have never been able to photograph my food well, and I would love to learn how to really showcase my cakes and cookies. Food shots are stunning and have me clicking on recipes that wouldn’t have appealed to me on name alone.
The recipe section is the one section that’s truly up and running, and there’s a lot to look through. This is also a mixed bag, with Betty Crocker recipes mixed in with a gorgeous recipe for white tea macaroons with cherry preserves. I like the variety, as it means that ingredients and techniques will address a range of background and availability, so there should be recipes for everyone from nervous beginners to the more experienced or adventurous cook. Foodie.com’s forums should turn into a great place to discuss techniques and ingredients, and the ability to interact with a variety of food experts is exciting. The food lover’s site feels more personal than Twitter and less public than Facebook as everyone is there for the same reason – the love of food.
We’ll be checking back in with Foodie in the coming weeks to see how the site is progressing.
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