“Recipes that are going viral on other social platforms are just visually appealing, you drool over them, but you never make them,” said Ahmad Alzahabi, 24, a TikTok food star in Flint, Mich., with more than 3.7 million followers. While editing videos for YouTube requires knowledge of third-party editing software, you can shoot, edit and post videos easily to TikTok, all from your phone. If the algorithm picks up that you like Mexican food, for instance, it will show you more cooking videos in that realm. This algorithmic content distribution system allows users to go down deep rabbit holes and program their feeds full of niche cooking content. There are a seemingly endless number of videos dedicated to every dietary restriction, region or culture: vegan cooking, Keto-friendly recipes, North African street food, Midwestern cuisine.

Source: New York Times May 24, 2021 15:40 UTC