The taste of video: Facebook videos as multi-sensory experiences

Abstract

Recipe videos are among the most viral genres of videos on social media. Yet, little research has been done on their aesthetic and formal attributes, especially on how they operate within the frameworks of the attention economy and embodied interaction specific to social media interfaces. This paper examines recipe videos published on Tasty, one of the most popular Facebook pages in the world. We analyze these videos through a three-dimensional model that integrates their semiotic characteristics (visual, auditory, and textual), their interactive and haptic qualities, and their invitation to perceptual engagement and sensorimotor response. We conclude that Facebook recipe videos are exemplary of a broader category of social media videos which we call hyper-sensory videos: these create heightened multisensory experiences that take precedence over informational use or narrative involvement. Hyper-sensory videos present a cultural response to broader questions regarding materiality, presence, and embodied relations within a highly mediated social reality.