Social media might prioritise aesthetics over taste and encourage unhealthy behaviour, but it can also foster a sense of familiarity with new products and ideas more effectively than traditional advertising. Instagram has given healthy eating a boost. This is because Instagram is an image-first platform, and what matters to the image is not how it tastes, but whether it looks nice. And that's exactly what vegetables and fruit do.
But the exact opposite has also received a boost: gluttony, hashtag #foodporn. 92 per cent of consumers trust the recommendations of people they follow on social media. Celebrities have less influence - they live on a different planet. Influencers, on the other hand, are just like us, and therefore credible. This enables them to steer consumer behaviour in a positive, or negative, direction better than traditional advertising.