ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a brief overview of the dominant trends around food and digital lifestyles in East Asia. It presents an in-depth examination of the phenomenon of mukbang as a productive example of the way in which food and digital lifestyles – particularly public performances and practices of eating – have become coarticulated in Asia. A number of different trends have contributed to this rich digital food culture including the rise of food photography. Mukbang is also a new genre in the online food influencer economy. The influencers refer to live-streamers and vloggers who have numerous followers on social media platforms, interact with followers in a parasocial relationship and hence become an important digital marketing tool for new and/or small companies to reach large numbers of consumers quickly. The chapter concludes with a discussion of China's Operation Empty Plate as an example of a government intervention into mukbang practices.
