Yogyakarta, August 10th 2020—Fisipol UGM’s Center for Digital Society is back with the 30th Digital Discussion. This discussion was titled “The Story Behind Foodgrammer”. CfDS invited Dadad Sesa — a founder and owner of Javafoodie, as the speaker. The event was held through Whatsapp Group and was moderated by Made Agus Bayu, an event assistant at CfDS.
For starters, Bayu started by asking the participants about things that need to be paid attention to when becoming a food grammer. A lot of answers were received and responded to by Dadad. However, before going into a more in depth explanation, Dadad first talked about his journey in becoming a food grammer.
Dadad started his journey in 2010 as a food blogger by learning about photography techniques, editing, lighting, how to make a good caption, and how to create great food presentations. However, behind all that, there needs to be a strong foundation which is a feeling of passion or love for the activity. “If since the start all i want is to make profit, i don’t think i will get this far,” Dadad said. That passion needs to be complemented by consistency and the willingness to learn.
Aside from the aforementioned foundations, foodgrammers also need to have a professional capital to enhance their skill as well as constant evaluation. Dadad shared his story on evaluating Javafoodie. He started to evaluate Javafoodie when he wanted to carry it to the commercial world. The evaluations include those that are based on the feedback of the client, evaluations on time management, and evaluation on social media management.
For content screening, Dadad thinks that it is better to not follow the trend so that the content can stand out. “I prefer to focus on street food. Who else will bring business to those merchants if not us, young people,” Dadad explained when asked about what kind of food content he likes to make.
Dadad also said that he picks food that he would want to review. “I always see the Instagram account of the product and see whether it fits in my account. I don’t review every food.” Dadad said when asked about what he does when he is asked to review foods that he doesn’t like.
When talking about the benefits of the activity, aside from economic benefits, Dadad said that this profession allows him to gain a lot of new relations. He now knows a lot of new circles and people, as well as recommendations on new places to eat at.
These benefits he gained amidst the process of managing the content. He started by joining culinary groups at Facebook, then he talks with sellers. “So, when creating the content, I don’t just take a photo and leave. The process is actually quite long,” Dadad said.
Dadad then elaborated about the risk of the profession, tips on how to manage content in different platforms, as well as prospects of food grammer in the future. All of this information is told based on the experience he has.
“Don’t forget that when you find an interesting culinary spot, share it with others. Who knows, it might be valuable information for a lot of people. Don’t be afraid to try new things as well. And finally, don’t judge a book by its cover,” Dadad said as a closing statement on 21.00 WIB.