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In the beginning, there were no recipes: food preparation methods were handed down from parent to child. A 3,500 year-old clay tablet from Babylon is thought to be the first recorded recipe, and the first printed cookbooks were prepared for the chefs of royalty. In the 18th century, Jean Brillat-Savarin wrote about food in a way that engaged the average person. But it wasn’t until M. F. K. Fisher — and her Art of Eating in 1954 — that food hit the casual reading market.

Since then, people's interest in food has increased dramatically. Gourmet Magazine, first published in 1941, became the first glossy magazine in America to concentrate on world cuisine. It evolved over time to become the premier food magazine in the US.

But Gourmet printed its last issue earlier this year, the victim of a publishing industry that is finding it necessary to reinvent itself. Citizen journalism, in the form of blogs and social media, proliferates.

Twitter and Facebook (among others) have changed the food landscape. Celebrity chefs tweet their latest local food finds. There are more recipe blogs than you can shake a spoon at. But Christopher Kimball, of the Cooks Illustrated publishing and television empire, exhorts people to “refuse to climb aboard this ship of fools, the one where everyone has an equal voice. Google 'broccoli casserole' and make the first recipe you find. I guarantee it will be disappointing.”

Is social media leveling the playing field — democracy in action — or, as Kimball believes, dumbing-down our understanding of food?

I recently used Twitter and Facebook to ask: “How has social media affected the food world?" Here are excerpt from some of the answers, many from names you might recognize. (Some corrections have been made for grammar and readability, but please realize that many of the “conversations” below happened in 140 characters or less. Of course.)

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Michael Ruhlman (ruhlman.com; @ruhlman; Most recently author of: Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking (which is now an iPhone app), Ad Hoc at Home, and Michael Symon's Live to Cook)

@ruhlman : I love the way it allows me to interact with readers, and to find new ones and promote stuff/ideas I care about, my books especially!

LH: Do you find Twitter a one way street? If not, how do you filter out the information?

@ruhlman : I don't filter, I like, great way to vent to ask for info, to spread info.

Kristina Johnson (formerchef.com; @wired2theworld)

@wired2theworld: Every restaurant seems to use social media now. Chefs tweet their daily specials and trendy LA Food Trucks could not exist without Twitter letting their followers know their location. I feel Twitter gives food bloggers a way to network in real time and get the word out the when they have a new post beyond RSS feeds and email subscriptions. I've met so many interesting people this way. I'm not as certain Facebook has had the same impact on the food world as Twitter has. People don't "meet" through Facebook. Facebook is for people you already know, Twitter is about finding new people with similar interests.

Scott Z (ediblebuzz.com; @ediblebuzz)

@ediblebuzz: Social media and user reviews created need for us to develop ORM [Online Reputation Management] tools like Edible Buzz! Restaurants have to pay attention to anyone with a keyboard these days. Every potential customer is a critic now but there's more tools than ever before for restaurants to join the conversation. From a consumer standpoint, people can make much better decisions with the Yelps and Zagats of the world. Now they're even mobile! Places ahead of the curve are using all these tools in a mix to monitor, engage and build loyal followers from a consumer standpoint. Lets not forget the new wave of promotions via Twitter like the Pollo Campero one I just tweeted.

Chef J. Hugh McEvoy (linkedin.com/in/chefj; @chefj_hugh)

@chefj_hugh: Social media / food world: I am now linked (real time) 24-7 with London, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Paris.. My real time 24-7 network is global. Literally millions of chefs are “linked” I wear Bluetooth in the kitchen I am live linked to Rick Bayless, Norman Van Aken, Grant Ach(atz). As a chef, I now “carry” the global knowledge of every chef alive…. “live” . In addition, I am “live linked” to the world’s top nutritionists & food scientists…. The sum of all food knowledge is in my hand.

Gail Dosik (onetoughcookienyc.com: @THEToughCookie)

@THEToughCookie: Blogs & chat forums certainly brought many cooks together for info/sharing. Twitter, I think, brought them closer, faster.

LH: So... does bringing cooks together faster make our food better?

@THEToughCookie: That's an interesting ?, I think it depends on the cook. I'm following/followed by really inspired great cooks! Info is faster, but not necessarily cooking it. And, that's fine with me. Honestly, I’ve “met” exemplary cookies/foodie here.

Ann H. (healthytastychow.com; @Healthytasty)

@Healthytasty: A start to answer your question. Our grocery stores are getting better since so many people are asking for a wider variety of foods.

Stuart Reb Donald (thirdcoastcuisine.blogspot.com; @StuartDonald)

@StuartDonald: I live in a town that wants everything to taste like Cracker Barrel. SocMed helps me keep up w/trends in the real world.

Virginia Willis (virginiawillis.com; @virginiawillis; author of Bon Appetit, Y'all)

@virginiawillis: SM has replaced to a great extent so much of the traditional PR machine. Information is so much more accessible. Restaurants can tweet specials, food writers can share posts and recipes, authors can publicize events and demos. Last week I answered a tweet because someone I only know through Twitter was receiving a delivery of cocoa pods, and I wanted to purchase some.The viral concept, the fact that my friends might share -- it can so quickly exponentially increase traffic to a blog or article. My instance this summer with my blog on Julia & Julia was very much reported in social media, resulting in a huge number of hits on the blog and visits to my web site.

Jeff Houck (tbo.com; @TheStew; Food Editor, Tampa Tribune)

@TheStew: The way I see it, food was the first social medium, from the time cavemen shared meat around the fire to the age when recipes were handed down to family and friends. The new technology allows for more immediacy than ever before. If I'm at a restaurant and I'm enjoying it, I can tell someone. Now. Used to be you could either only do it by word of mouth or, if you were a food critic, in a newspaper. That power is immense - and immensely dangerous for restaurants and other food providers. It also de-centralizes the role of the food critic. Everyone is now a critic and can join in the conversation. That makes it problematic for the consumer, since it takes more work to establish credibility among a throng than it does to rely on one voice. It also advances the possiblity that someone may be touting a product with a hidden agenda or n opinion that has been purchased. But social media is rapidly expanding familiarity with ingredients and techniques, much in the same way Julia Child and Food Network did on television. I think forcing grocers and other food providers to make a wider variety of ingredients and products available in places where they might otherwise not be in demand.

Susan Filson (stickygooeycreamychewy.com; @StickyGooeyChef)

@StickyGooeyChef: I do social media for a couple of reasons. I really enjoy interacting with the other food bloggers. Twitter is like a great big chat room. I did it at first for networking; to get more people to know me and my blog. The biggest thing for me for FACEBOOK and Twitter is getting to meet people. I’ve gotten to interact with top tier chefs through the social media that I wouldn’t have had the chance to. Social Media is making the world a much smaller place. Michael Ruhlman or Dory Greenspan, people who you admire you can reach. For example: I recently wanted some vanilla beans and I realized I wasn’t sure which kind to buy; Burbon, Mexican or Tahitian vanilla beans. I tweeted for help and got lots of answers back. All the vendors: beef, olive oil, etc are on twitter. It gives you access to information.

LH: How do you wade through social media to find recipes that work?

@StickyGooeyChef: Although you don’t know that all recipes that are blogged are going to work. Some of the “greats” (meaning cookbooks) also don’t work. You can’t take any info at face value, you have to use your judgment. It is a starting point. Social media isn’t the answer to everything. It is an information highway, you still have to have use your brain to find the off ramp.

Jaden Hair (steamykitchen.com; @steamykitchen; author of The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook)

@steamykitchen: My career in food, the blog, TV, media, even Creative Loafing started because of Social Media. It all started with food blog, and I thought it would be a really really cool career. It is the ultimate job. About month 3 into the blog I started to get serious. To be successful in the food world you have to be multi-media... Pick one or two social media strands and be good at it. I manage it all using tweetdeck. Social media is two way, and I always follow back.

LH: Where do you find good online recipes? (She says she uses Foodblogsearch.com an aggregate search.)

@steamykitchen: I’ll look for good sites. I love food blogs. Cooks Illustrated tests and is scientific. But food is about stories. Not about precise calculations. It takes the soul out of food. The fun is discovering the food blogs. I get to know people through the blogs. I start making new friends. Discovery is part of the enjoyment.Visiting with old friends. My book, Steamy Kitchen, was born out of social media. Social media has changed the food world!

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So, what does this mean?

If someone has something to say, social networking and media enables them to communicate to an enormous audience. The biggest challenge is learning how to use it, and seeing who has can combine longevity and authority. Even my mother-in-law, Italian cooking authority Marcella Hazan, is on Facebook, where she communicates with her fans.

Recently, my husband, Italian cooking teacher / author Giuliano Hazan @giulianohazan, went to Japan to shoot a live internet, interactive TV show for Nico Nico Douga. There was so much interest that the show maxed out its server. People are listening to live chef podcasts and watching YouTube video uploads. They want to participate; food has become interactive.

So, what does this mean? Although Julia Child went to the Cordon Bleu in France, she never was a “restaurant chef”; rather, she was a great communicator of food. So was the great M.F. K. Fisher, which is why she's considered the mother of modern food writing. In today's world, where reality TV and instant celebrity have become our common language, it’s wonderful that food is part of the conversation. Social media is creating common experiences and a vibrant food community. And yes, it does have substance, as long as you're willing to wade through a low signal-to-noise ratio.

Marshall McLuhan said: “All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.” At least in the food world, we'll be well-fed.

Lael Hazan, of the noted Italian culinary Hazan family, currently teaches food history at their cooking school in Verona Italy, has a bi-monthly radio show on WSLR, 96.5 fm FOCUS ON FABULOUS FOOD, teaches for ACEC; and writes for various blogs and magazines. Feel free to follow her on twitter @educatedpalate or her personal blog, @educatedpalate.net/blog. For more information check out her family website.