There are magazines, television shows and books about food. So why not a social network? That's the thinking behind online lifestyle publisher Glam Media's newest offering. On Thursday, the company launched Foodie.com, a social network devoted entirely to the gastronomic crowd. The move represents an important expansion for Glam into the ever-popular, advertising-friendly world of food-related media, from restaurant reviews to recipes. In a change from its traditional practice of creating websites that showcase articles about fashion and health, Glam is betting that food lovers want a specialized social network to indulge their palates. Users of Foodie.com can create profiles for the service with their existing Facebook or Twitter credentials. Once signed in to the social network, they can follow chefs and food writers, share their own musings and dig through a recipe finder, among other activities. Glam has enlisted more than 100 food writers and bloggers, as well as an advisory board of culinary experts including food critic Patricia Wells and Iron Chef winner Geoffrey Zakarian, to produce content for the service. Glam Chief Executive Samir Arora said there was room for a specialized social network about food to live alongside Facebook. Most people will be active on three to four online social networks, Arora said. People who are passionate about food will make Foodie.com one of their three or four standard social networks, he predicted. Other people will visit when they need a recipe or they're looking for a restaurant. The launch of Foodie.com is the first result of Glam's September purchase of Ning, an also-ran social networking service started by Netscape creator Marc Andreessen. Arora said he expected to create more specialized social networking sites devoted to specific areas of interest this year using the Ning technology. Glam will also take a step into the old media world as it plans to offer printed guidebooks about food, such as compendiums of the top 100 restaurants for different regions or types of food. Arora said the Glam books will be able to rank a broader range of restaurants and types of food than the competition by using expertise from food critics as well as social data gleaned on the Foodie.com service. __
