Dear @FoodNetwork, your social strategy needs some spice

I hate seeing businesses waste golden opportunities so it’s high time someone tells the Food Network they need to get with the program. They are asleep at the wheel and this is their wake up call.

Let’s pretend you are watching Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives (DDD) and you are salivating while watching Guy Fieri hunch into a half pound dream of a hamburger in a dive in Florida. Wouldn’t it be cool to stop by and taste it for yourself on your next vacation?

So you surf over to the DDD show page at FoodNetwork.com and you are greeted with a page organized by… episode? Seriously? I’m supposed to know the episode number or title? I’m looking for a joint in Florida. Where’s the listing by state or better yet why not a Google Map mashup?

If there was only…

No, wait here’s another idea. What if someone created a website that would let you rate restaurants or add ones you’d like to visit to a wishlist? Then the Food Network could create a tie-in that would allow me to easily add these sites to my profile. Urbanspoon anyone?

What if there was a twitter account that would allow me to @reply a zip code and get a search result of a restaurant near me?

The possibilities are endless.

Google Earth Layers
Trip Planners to show great places to eat along your route
Let diners “Tell Guy you stopped by” and encourage them to tweet from the places he highlights
… anything but an episode guide

I guess this is a bit much to expect from the folks with a the worst search engine ever (proof), contact addresses of “DDDinfo@mac.com”, and a twitter engagement ratio of less than 5%)

It’s tragic that the Food Network’s social network strategy leaves such a sour taste.