One of my favorite parts about going on vacation is eating, which means another of my favorite parts about going on vacation is working out. I’ve eaten a lot of amazing food in Hawaii and I must confess to posting pictures of it on Instagram.
A few weeks ago one of my friends tweeted: “Why do we post pictures of food on Instagram?”
Eating is a central part of the human experience. No human can go without eating for more than 40 days and most humans don’t like going more than four hours without eating. We all need to eat; it’s a reality that connects us with every other person we know. It is part of who we are and we love sharing the experience with others.
I grew up eating dinner with my family every night. My relationships with my family were cultivated over servings of spaghetti and Hamburger Helper. My home life and my relationships would be significantly different if we had never sat down to eat together. We cherish that experience of sharing a meal together.
Posting pictures on Instagram is a virtual dinner table.
In our busy lives we don’t always have time to sit down with our friends and family to share a meal together. When we post pictures of our food on Instagram we’re sharing our meal with others. There may not be someone sitting across the table from us, but there is someone sitting with their iPhone in hand participating with us.
Obviously posting pictures of food on Instagram can never replace sharing a meal with others. Sharing a meal is part of the human experience; it’s part of our Christian experience. The Lord’s Supper is a meal we share with the body of Christ and it binds us all across thousands of years. A simple photo shared on a social network can never form those connections.
Sharing photos of food on Instagram, though, can form small connections that bolster and support existing relationships. We can’t always eat with our friends and family but it’s fun to see what they are eating. Those pictures of food can’t be the foundation for a relationship but they can be a little bit of the mortar that holds them together.
Do you post pictures of food on Instagram? Why or why not?
I do. It's kind of like saying "Hey, here's where I am and here's what I'm looking at! Share this moment with me!"
Also, it interesting to see what others are doing, seeing, participating in and....eating 🙂
My friend took a trip to Korea and posted lots of pictures of what she was eating and where she was. It kept her connected to all of her friends back home (who were wishing they were eating the same thing).
It is so much fun and interesting, especially if the pictures are from a different country. Thanks for sharing!