Food for thought: Exploring how people think and talk about food online

Appetite. 2018 Apr 1:123:390-401. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.01.022. Epub 2018 Feb 6.

Authors

Kate G Blackburn¹, Gamze Yilmaz², Ryan L Boyd³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA. Electronic address: kateblackburn@utexas.edu.
² Communication Department, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA. Electronic address: gamze.yilmaz@umb.edu.
³ Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA. Electronic address: ryanboyd@utexas.edu.

PMID: 29407531
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.01.022

Abstract

This exploratory study examined the ways in which people communicate about food online by analyzing food-related conversations on Reddit, a social news networking site. The Meaning Extraction Helper (MEH) was used to analyze 2 corpora and define central themes related to online food talk. In light of these themes, the researchers discuss socio-cultural components shaping the food conversations in our society in general as well as healthy versus unhealthy communities, and provided specific directions for future empirical research.

Keywords: Food; Health; Meaning extraction helper (MEH); Online language use.

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Cities
Communication*
Cookbooks as Topic
Diet / psychology*
Health Behavior
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Internet*
Principal Component Analysis
Residence Characteristics
Social Environment
Taste

Grants and funding

R01 GM112697/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States