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Paper short abstract

This study examines moral food discourses on Instagram. Combining social network analysis and netnography of vegan and BBQ communities, it shows that while social media pluralize debates on “right” eating, they largely reproduce traditional food morals and gendered narratives.

Paper long abstract

Food has always been associated with moral ideas about right and wrong eating and therefore plays an important role in societal discourses on politics, social distinction, and ecology. Media strongly influence public debates about food. With digitalization, these discourses have become more pluralized and individualized, while social media platforms increasingly function as spaces for informal and democratized food education. At the same time, broader trends - such as the fragmentation and the loss of orientation - can also be observed in these debates. This raises the question of how discourses about right and wrong eating take shape on social media.

To investigate this, the development of food communities around German food influencers on Instagram was examined over a period of five years using social network analysis. In addition, a qualitative analysis of two Instagram food communities was conducted using netnography. The study included 404 accounts from the Vegan & Plant-based community and 471 accounts from the BBQ & Meat community, whose content was analyzed for central moral narratives about food.

The results show that over time these communities became less diverse, more polarized, and increasingly professionalized. While moral narratives are partially renegotiated, social media largely reproduce traditional ideas of good food and proper eating. In the Vegan & Plant-based community, narratives of moderation, asceticism, ethical responsibility, and restrictive food rules dominate. In contrast, the BBQ & Meat community emphasizes narratives of indulgence, power, violence, and masculinity. Across both communities, food discourse also reproduces traditional gender roles and attributes.