12. Study: We'll Enjoy Food More If You Don't Instagram It

Julie Beck, an associate editor at The Atlantic, writes about a study concerning how photographs of food lead the viewer to appreciate their own meals less. The author first introduces the main issue, which is the over appreciation of photographs of food, which in reality makes actual meals less satisfying. Tests were made in which people had to rate among food images and the taste of actual peanuts. Results showed that the more salty food images a person looked at, the less they enjoyed the peanuts. However, if they looked at sweet food images, they enjoyed them more. Also, those who were asked to rate the brightness of the photo instead of how appetizing the food seemed, enjoyed the peanut the most since their minds were not thinking about the taste. It was concluded that the sensory stimulation produced by the image actually gives away satiation to the viewer. One appreciates food more if he/she is not concerned with images of food and the taste of the captured meal, but more focused on the photograph’s “composition”.

Beck does a good job in presenting her essay, but isn’t as strong in her arguments. She utilizes humor when she writes at the end, “This also has potential implications for advertisers, who may unknowingly be giving away satiation for free when they dangle tantalizing images of chicken wings or whatever in front of us all day long.” At start of the essay she also uses humor. “On the scale of problems, ‘pictures of food on the Internet’ is firmly first-world. And that is almost certainly a too-generous definition of ‘problem.’” The second example demonstrates how Beck jokingly criticizes society’s exaggerated use of the term “problem” when they refer to “pictures of food on the Internet” when the rest of the world suffers other, larger issues, such as famine. Furthermore in her writing, the author does remember to cite her sources, which grants her credibility. She includes citations for the study she writes about in her essay and the picture she uses as well. To organize her essay, Beck uses subtitles to distinctly divide it into four main sections. This proves useful in helping the reader to clearly take in the essay’s idea in understandable segments. When writing this article, the audience at mind was definitely young adults in a first-world society. This is evidenced by the use of terms such as “Instagramming” and “Instagrammers”, terms mainly utilized by those aware of social networks and media. To her audience, the author writes with an informal tone. This is evidenced by the use of personal pronouns “I” and “you”. The usage of an informal tone creates a connection between the writer and the reader. The reader feels more relaxed while reading and the writer is able to express ideas more freely since it is an informal situation. However, being simply a recap on a study that was made by someone else, her arguments are not her own. In her essay, Beck simply restates what was discussed at a previously published article. Still, it is clear that she does a great job in doing so.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/study-well-enjoy-food-more-if-you-dont-instagram-it/280436/