Twitter is a social networking platform that allows users such as individuals or businesses to tweet thoughts, ideas or advertisements in short 140 character messages to their followers. Twitter not only allows users to post messages, but also allows individuals to include images or hyperlinks in their posts.
Twitter is vital to the food truck industry as it allows trucks to tweet real-time and instant updates about their current location, schedule, as well as any delays they may be facing to their followers. Twitter also allows the trucks to retweet what their followers are saying about their food or particular events, which allows for free advertising and information to their followers. Tweeting pictures such as the menu for that day is also very useful for foodtrucks, as seen in the image below.
Facebook is one of the most popular networking sites today that focuses on connecting people and businesses together. Facebook has a wide array of features including statuses, photo sharing, events, and timeline posts on behalf of those who are connected to the page.
Facebook is vital for food trucks as they are able to maintain a page as a business and include longer posts than twitter, ranging from schedules to updates on the truck in the off season. Facebook is also excellent to create discussion on the page with people who are looking for more information or who want to comment on an event they attended or food they tried. The final great feature of Facebook is photo sharing, on behalf of the truck in event albums, or from users who have posted pictures on the page timeline.
Instagram is a social media that focuses on photo sharing and more recently vide-sharing and allows users to add filters and edit their own final product. Users are also able to connect their Instagram account to other social networking sites if they chose to, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Food pictures play a huge role on this application, with hashtags on photos linking to types of food or locations for food lovers everywhere to view. #FoodTruck is an extremely popular hashtag on the application, linking to thousands of photos across North America of the trucks themselves, the menus, and of course delicious food and drink pictures.
Foursquare is a free social network application that allows individuals to check-in at the location they are at, including businesses, parks etc. Upon checking in at locations users are able to see tips from other people about that particular place, as well as pictures and other details.
Foursquare includes mobile locations, making it perfect for food trucks to use. They also can include places such as Hamilton’s Food Truck Alley and show how many people are at the location at any given time. Food trucks can use Foursquare to their advantage as once they have created somewhere for people to check in, individuals can then post tips for food to try or pictures of what they ate at any given time.
The Toronto Street Food Application highlights trucks in Toronto, showing trucks that have posted schedules for that day or been open recently in the past. This app also shows location tags that are popular for food trucks, allowing individuals to click on a location and see if any trucks are in that area. The application shows the top five new trucks in Toronto as well as the top ten most popular trucks.
LET'S GET SOCIAL
