Food Influencers Are Making Uncomfortable Eye Contact With You — And They're Doing It On Purpose

You'll never be able to unsee this now.

Food trends that thrive on TikTok and Instagram need to have a strong visual hook. Something about the thumbnail image must capture users’ attention and get them to stop their scrolling, so viral hits like the Dubai chocolate bar and Chamoy pickles rely on bright colors, clear lighting, and — in many cases — creators making eye contact with viewers and taking a big bite of the dish in question.

This trend of social creators eating up-close-and-personal on camera has been a major influence on food-related TikToks and Instagram videos for years now, and while this video style is polarizing (more on that later), it definitely succeeds in getting users to click and watch.

But why do viewers find it compelling to watch creators chew and swallow? To dig deeper into this trend, we turned to a group of social media marketers, content creators and psychologists.

The eye contact and intimacy help creators connect on a personal and authentic level with their followers.

It may have derived from a trend back in the early 2010s, when the South Korean trend of “mukbang” became a worldwide fascination. Mukbang videos featured creators eating on camera and discussing the food as they chewed and swallowed, and in most cases, mukbang involved large quantities of food being ordered and consumed.