While lots of us snap the occasional photo of a particularly scrumptious-looking restaurant meal, some folks take it to the next level. Maine’s social media restaurant dining influencers – among the state’s most hardcore foodies – have accounts on Instagram and other platforms devoted to sharing their photos, video reels and blurbs documenting their favorite local dining experiences (they don’t tend to post about places they don’t like). Their reach is impressive – the accounts we’ve included range from about 7,000 to more than 80,000 followers on Instagram, a mix of locals and tourists.
Some accounts, like Eating Portland Alive, home in largely on the city’s offerings, while others like BiddoFoodies (highlighting Biddeford and Saco), Eating through the Seacoast and The Maine Foodies carve out other geographical niches or cover as much of the state as they can. Unsurprisingly, these digitally-savvy influencers are on the young side, ranging from their 20s to their early 40s. Some of social media’s prominent national food and dining food influencers, like New York-based Brandon Hayes of @nyc_cheatdayking (144,000 Instagram followers) and Brian Cant of @briancantstopeating (256,000 followers), frequently partner with dining venues that pay them either cash or in-kind to post about their restaurants.
This system differs from traditional newspaper dining reviews, where it would be considered unethical for critics to take payment from the venues they cover. Man.