RIAN FARISA

Food bloggers come in all sizes, shapes, looks and background. In Indonesia alone, I can see a pattern among my fellow food bloggers, and out of boredom, I’m writing this post about my observation. Disclaimer: this is purely for fun and exaggerated for an extra punch and it is by no means intended to mock anyone I know. Please read ahead if you’re the type who can laugh at your own follies, but if you’re an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person), I’ll advise you to close this tab immediately.

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1. The Purists
The food blogger royalties; the Volturi clan in Edward Cullen’s worldPurists started out using blogging platforms and never joined member-generated-content food guide websites such as this or this. You did not start out blogging to get recognised by other members or to win prizes. Deep down, as the ‘revered’ ones in the community, you are secretly proud of yourself and feel piqued by the misbehaviour of other food bloggers or food-blogger-wannabes who you deem are tarnishing the group reputation.

You have a moral obligation to stay true to your calling; food tastings / tryouts will not buy your positive review. On the other hand, you are wise enough to know that people (especially in Indonesia) cannot take criticism, so you play nice. Occasionally, you would show up at events / invitation by restaurants. You filter the invitations, because you are bombarded with those; you will only show up IF you know the owner/whoever invited you or IF it’s a premium restaurant / event. You roll your eyes in exasperation looking how some newbies or free riders suddenly claim to be food bloggers just to get invitations to food tastings.

2. The Graphic Geeks
Foodies who own gadgets that’ll cost someone’s annual salary.

You take mouthwatering photos that look as if the food is jumping out of the screen straight to your face. Being photography literate, you are very particular about the angle, lighting, arrangement & setting of your subject. If possible, you’ll even have the salmon tilt at an angle and pose for you. Usually, you’re always the last to finish taking photos, because you’ll go all the trouble to move your plate by the window or ask someone pick up the dumpling or tear the bun apart, so u can capture the most delicious moments.

Your blog receive visitors who droll on your Martha Stewart-worthy pictures, but they can’t be bothered to read your story, which is exasperating. “Excuse me, I’ve commented on the taste right after the photo, did you not read it?!”

3. The Hunters
Quizzes, vouchers, giveaways, coupons are your breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea time, supper and dinner.

You go to sleep and wake up, watching your social media timeline just to make sure that you are the first to know / hear about a contest. After all, the  early bird (usually) gets the worm, no?
This class of food bloggers can be further divided into sub-classes:
– Lucky hunters (always win without much effort)
– Persistent hunters (you work hard to win; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose)
– Shameless hunters (Travel quiz? Giveaways? Tweeting competition? Science trivias? Bring it on!)

You follow almost every restaurants, promotional news, discounts on all social media. Doesn’t matter if you are using the internet connection at the office (so long as the boss doesn’t know!).

4. The New Converts
Who finally realize that they’re better than the folks who copy-paste reviews from other blogs.

You can never become a Purist, because you have an (embarassing) past. But that’s where you started from and since you take pride in your work (they are decent, after all), you choose to convert to a proper food blogger. Of course, the community welcomes you, as long as you’ve never reproduced other people’s work illegally or write a review about mint-glazed Dunkin Donut in 5 paragraphs. Oh yes, you still attend their gatherings and have won the cool prizes from their competitions, we’re talking about prizes like iPad, DSLR cameras and MacBook,  folks…(I wonder who sponsor these websites? Can you sponsor mine too?)

5. The Newbies
Hello there, my blog is xxx, can we exchange links please?

You aggressively drop comments at others’ blogs & hoping (or sometimes explicitly ask) for a return visit. You request to exchange links, which is sometimes welcomed with warm hand, but other times ignored on purpose (ugh, those snob Purists!). A newbie checks the stats every now & then and will do anything to get the page visits hike up. Some also like to mark the “milestone” of the blog by self-congratulatory note of Nth page visits.

Um, will you ever upgrade? Yes you will. When someone else asks to exchange links with you, that’s when you know that you have ‘graduated’ from the Newbies group.

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So, did you have fun laughing at yourselves? I certainly had fun writing this and I’d smirk every now and then, remembering the same things I (used to) do or did. The point is, does not matter which group you think you fall into, you are still a food blogger. It’s a challenging hobby that requires a serious commitment and investment (a digital camera no matter how cheap, still costs money!). You deserve a pat on the back for all the commitment you have dedicated so far. Cheers! =)