One of the classic criticisms of social media is that it's pointless, that's it all selfies and people taking pictures of their food. And while I don't agree with the former, a new report from Facebook has confirmed that people definitely do like to talk about their food on the platform. A lot.
As part of Facebook's 'Moments that Matter' series, The Social Network has conducted research on how Facebook users discuss cooking and baking on the site. They found that more than 213 million people, globally, discuss these topics on Facebook every month, generating 1.1 billion food-related interactions. That's a lot of pictures of untouched meals and cake-making projects.
From the Facebook IQ post:
"On an average day in the US, there are 18 million posts, comments, likes and shares about cooking and baking on Facebook. And 83% of those interactions happen on a mobile device."
Unsurprisingly, the popularity of cooking increases with age - people aged 35 and older overindex on interactions about cooking, while married people interact about cooking and baking more than single folk.
Researchers also found that the average American family spends around $330 per month on groceries, "making food at home the fourth biggest budget priority behind housing, transportation, personal insurance and pensions."
Other insights:
- Breakfast is the most discussed meal on Facebook
- 52% of Facebook posts about cooking and baking take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the US (Tuesday and Wednesday have the fewest posts about cooking and baking)
- Coffee is the most discussed beverage - there are more than 38 million Instagram photos are tagged with coffee-related hashtags (#tea has 13.9 million images)
However you look at it, food and food related discussion is a big deal on Facebook, and one which marketers can tap into. To help on this front, Facebook has put together an infographic compiling the key findings of their research.
Main image via Facebook