Now, I've never experienced anything on social media that went full blown viral on the Internet, no matter how many times I want my dogs to do something funny or stupid. But in my little world of food and BBQ blog readers, it occasionally happens to me -- just on a much, much, smaller scale.
A couple of years ago, my Facebook and blog post on the Big Beefy Rib went on a mini viral spree for about a day leading up to the OC Fair. Earlier today, I tweeted a couple of photos from the OC Fair -- deep fried bacon wrapped pickles and bacon wrapped churros on the grill. According to Twittersphere (and by Twittersphere, I mean my 400 followers), it was yawnsville. A few retweets and favorites each. No replies. Crickets chirping.
Then I posted this:
Lightly battered. Crispier, greasier, and cheesier. Everything you'd expect out of deep fried Doritos. @ocfair pic.twitter.com/PbNZJIsOZ1
— Dirty Smoke BBQ Blog (@dirtysmokebbq) August 3, 2014
The deep fried Doritos was something that was on my radar this year to try. Chicken Charlie's is always coming up with new deep fried concoctions every year, so I make it a point to try something different at every OC Fair visit. Within minutes and probably for a good hour or so, my phone was blowing up with notifications. Retweets and favorites -- yes that was somewhat expected. But the tweet seemingly struck a chord with Twitter users from around the globe and garnered reply after reply after reply.
So here's the play by play...
It was either a passionate "NO" or the long-winded and dramatic "omg... NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
Other replies included the Sylvester Stallone impression of "YOOO??? DEEP FRIED DORITOS??? WO??"
Others were short and simple like "SMH" or "hell no." Just in case... (SMH = shaking my head)
Someone was probably hallucinating and tweeted "looks like a mini roach is on one of them so nope." Uhh, there was no roach (it was a piece of burnt cheese). But hey, whatever you need to see to convince yourself there, buddy.
So there you have it. When it comes to deep fried Doritos, Twittersphere has a strong and passionate opinion. With food, especially with something as widely known and beloved snack like Doritos, people tend to get really riled up if you mess with a good thing.
I think that's why some people were so quick to judge and form an opinion -- even without giving it a try. People were probably really scratching their heads thinking why someone would deep fry a bag of Doritos, since... it was already deep fried in the first place become a chip. Minds were blown.
In the end, I tweeted something to the effect of "don't knock it until you try it." Which... if you want to go on a deeper level, should be applied to anything in life. Be open minded. You just might surprise yourself. So go ahead, challenge yourself and go outside the norm and your comfort zone! Eat those deep fried Doritos without prior judgement.
I'm glad I did.
