The Straits Times, 4 March 07
"Foodies' blog stir interest"

Need a good recommendation for a place to eat with friends? Look no further than cyberspace, where food blogs are the latest trend to hit the blogging community in Singapore.

Blogs have been serving up a storm recently with many Singaporeans joining in the fray. Following the trend of online entrepreneurship through blogs, food is next in line. Bloggers have been using their blogs as a medium to review and critique restaurants and eateries for their readers, presumably as an informal marketing coy to spread the good name of the eatery. Some bloggers even post pictures of the food and the place where they ate to entice their readers.

I believe most Singaporeans would welcome such a marketing tactic. When friends review their dining experiences, it is from a trustworthy source and hence we will know if their recommendation is reliable as compared to general food reviews in the newspapers. As a follow-up, we can also contact the blogger and get more information about the eatery.

As a blogger myself, I do review my dining experiences on my personal blog and fortunately, my friends have responded positively by asking me more about my experience. Last month, I dined at a Brazilian restaurant where authentic Brazilian meant and delicacies were served. It was a truly gastronomic adventure as I devoured different inds of beef, chicken and fish. blogged about this experience and my friends eventually bugged me for the address of the restaurant!

Therefore, food blogs act as a form of word-of-mouth marketing for restaurants. This form of marketing promotes goodwill and does not involve any cost, therefore most restaurants may adopt such marketing in future.

However, not all food blogs may post positive comments. On the contrary, if a diner had a bad experience, then he or she may blog about it and the restaurant mat get negative reviews. I had blogged about such bad experiences in service standards from some restaurants and it is unfortunate for such establishments because it loses its reputation and readers may avoid such places in future.

In addition, while this trend is expected to ake off, there needs to be some form of guidelines regarding food blogs. There needs to be a line drawn between blogging constrcutively without damaging the reputation of an establishment severely. If not, it will be regarded as flaming and in our society, that may be viewed as an offence which the authorities have to investigate. In extreme circumstances, the blogger may get charged in court.