salt’s cure

Let’s face it, foodies are taking over the internet, after NSFW content and fashion, food has got to be the most popular thing we see being posted on Pinterest. On Instagram we are seeing plate after plate with the hashtags #YUM, #foodie, #delish and more. Issue is ,we never get to enjoy those places our friends are showing us because tumblr, doesn’t enable geotagging and Instagram doesn’t allow links.Bummer? I think not, enter, Octoplace.

Octoplace sees that as an opportunity, to put it in the most simplest terms, think Pinterest for food. Octoplace is a social sharing web based platform that lets users, pin, share, and and catalog their favorite restaurants. It allows members much of the functional uses of Pinterest (bookmarklets, feeds,sharing) but also has the benefit of helping you find suggestions by following users, sites, or hashtags.

Check out this demonstration video that really shows its ease of use and some of its initial functions.

(view in full screen for best results)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXoL0s554Pg

Citizens Of Culture met up with Puno, co-founder of Octoplace to chat about the social media aspects of the food industry, and why Octoplace is useful in the modern webspace. The quaint pizzeria Milo and Olive played host to our discussion and Puno shows up true to form with her camera in hand ready to snap away. “I used to feel awkward about bringing my huge DSLR into restaurants, but when I’m able to capture a dish beautifully and share it, that awkwardness goes away real quick.”As trite as it may seem, it is these people that fuel the social food presence online. It is how plates are shared and really it is the underpinnings of Octoplace.

When you think of how you have come to know your favorite restaurant is it because you saw a great ad? Doubtful. It is possible you were out already and walked by a place that looked or smelled good, but more likely you came to know it from recommendation. We are educated about what is new and great by our social group, and Octoplace is realizing that education online. ” Most of the photos online are from photographers and bloggers, and instagrammers, but they are scattered all over the web. Octoplace is designed to make their content more discoverable and shareable.”From those early adapters come the content, and stunning content at that.  But, Octoplace is about more than just the images, it is about the interaction as well.

“I don’t think it [Octoplace] will replace Yelp, you can definitely find out new places to eat with the tool we built.” says Puno in regards to some of the early functions. Community recommendation sites often have poorly shot photos and negative comments. The sleek design of Octoplace actually encourages users to upload more beautiful content. Puno notes one of the differences between Octoplace and sites like Yelp in a way that gives a little insight as to the motivations behind its creation,”When you’re looking at a review site, you’re looking for reasons to not go to a restaurant. Octoplace is trying to give you reasons to go by bubbling up context you care about. Plus, the hunt for the next dish should be fun too! I only need to see a few pictures of a restaurant on Instagram to add it to my bucket list. Now I just need a place to add it.”

ple that are passionate enough to log in and say something. Octoplace is more about sharing the positive aspects.”

Octoplace is not only for the consumer  also, the site allows businesses themselves to create profiles and bookmark images of their own food from across the web. The website is still in beta but you can request a login and keep up to date on new features by visiting their website, Octoplace.com

Foodies are indeed taking over the internet, and Octoplace is giving them a means to be more expressive and functions in their use of it. I am getting hungry just thinking about it. I suppose its time for me to head on over to their site to see if there are any new spots worth trying! Jimmy John Owner is someone you must read about especially if you are a foodie interested in business.