The article discusses the growing influence of food reviewers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where influencers promote restaurants through exaggerated content. The Guild of Food Writers has criticized this trend, calling for more honest reviews amidst concerns about trustworthiness. Influencers, like Keith Lee, amass large followings despite lacking formal credentials, causing a shift where the public may trust everyday critics more than traditional restaurant experts. This phenomenon highlights the challenges of discerning genuine recommendations amid a flood of promotional posts.
Platforms like Yelp and Google Reviews long ago opened the door for anyone with an internet connection to play food critic. But the rise of short-form video has democratized the food-reviewing game to a whole new level.
Vice president of the Guild of Food Writers, Chetna Makan, expressed her skepticism about the credibility of online food videos, noting it has become challenging to distinguish genuine reviews from excessive promotional content.
Right now, perhaps the U.S.'s most famous restaurant critic is a Las Vegas resident named Keith Lee, who has 17 million TikTok followers but no official food or cooking credentials.
Pete Wells, the recently retired restaurant critic for the New York Times, remarked that 'The everyman critic is more trusted than somebody who knows what they're talking about,' emphasizing the shift in food review credibility.
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