Twitterpated: What are you eating?

The ice cream man has met his match.

Gourmet food trucks are lining the streets of major cities and have begun to change the face of the fast-food industry. From the Kogi BBQ trucks in Los Angeles to the Clover Food Lab in Cambridge, these mobile eateries have built cult-like followings using Twitter to update hungry customers with their location and special meal offerings.

The Cupcake Stop in Manhattan, which started its operation in June, was the city’s first mobile gourmet cupcake shop. Lev Ekster, the truck’s creator, had one mission: to serve New Yorkers delicious cupcakes. This means creating yummy flavors such as white chocolate raspberry swirl and red velvet while connecting with customers on a personal level.’

‘ ‘The way customers connect with businesses these days has changed,’ Ekster said. ‘Businesses need to be reachable and responsible. Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter bridge the gap between these two parties.’

The Cupcake Stop (twitter.com/cupcakestop) has more than 7,600 followers on Twitter and keeps its customers engaged by offering discounts to those who mention the most recent tweet. The truck also hosts cupcake flavor contests, offering the winner a spot on the coveted cupcake menu.

The hype, and the sugar, help business is do well amid the economic downturn.

‘The economy has really depressed a lot of people and our cupcakes are the perfect pick-me-up,’ Ekster said.

Boston University students can travel across the river to Cambridge for their helping of mobile food to the Clover Food Lab, a mobile restaurant offering fresh, organic soups and sandwiches served with local apples and fries.

Boston University alumna Michele Grant is opening her own mobile grilled cheese truck in Los Angeles next month. The Grilled Cheese Truck, Grant said, is inspired by her anthropology degree and a love affair with cheese.

‘ ‘There are many roots in what I’m doing now that have their beginnings in things I learned when I was a student,’ she said. ‘We started out with what we thought was a pretty great idea, but it’s been the overwhelming response from the people following us through Twitter that’s confirmed the need for cheese here in L.A. We can’t wait to get melting!’

For many customers, the thrill of the chase keeps them coming to the trucks. Marissa Stuart, a Mercyhurst College senior and summer resident of New York City, follows her favorite food trucks on Twitter and receives direct updates on her cell phone to find their locations.

‘ ‘I really love the food trucks because not only is it really convenient, but because the food you get from them is really good,’ Stuart said.

‘ In a world of packed schedules and tight budgets, young people can’t get enough of the inexpensive price tags and convenience the trucks offer. Menu items like black jack quesadillas stuffed with caramelized onions and spicy pork at Kogi BBQ on University of California-Los Angeles’ campus, or Belgian waffles topped with real maple syrup and vanilla ice cream at Waffles & Dinges in NYC put the McDonald’s value menu to shame.

The trucks relocate themselves depending on time of day, foot traffic and parking restrictions. Some people go so far as to argue these trucks are in competition with one another.

‘If anything, it’s a friendly competition between the food trucks,’ Dominic Lau, owner of Don Chow Tacos in Los Angeles, said. ‘In fact, there are talks about getting a food truck ‘court’ together where all of the trucks show up at one central location.”

With the recent explosion of social networking websites, the rules of traditional marketing have been thrown out the window. While some industries were slow to jump on the bandwagon, foodies embraced the change.

Popular chefs such as Bobby Flay (twitter.com/bflay) and Emeril Lagasse (twitter.com/Emeril) each have Twitter accounts where they directly communicate with their fans. Even old-school food critics like Gael Greene (twitter.com/GaelGreene) and entire networks like the Food Network (twitter.com/FoodNetwork) are getting in the game. However, it’s still too soon to tell if these trucks will have a major impact on the food industry.

While some larger companies are struggling to incorporate social media into their complicated business models, smaller businesses are milking this new trend for all that it’s worth.

‘Social media gives the little guys an advantage over the big chains,’ Steve Quigley, a BU professor of communications, advertising and public relations, said. ‘Some of these tools are suited for small, nimble niche companies. But, what if you’re McDonald’s? Can you be responsive enough to actually be useful?’

To solve this, AJ Vaynerchuk, a Boston University alumnus and co-founder of VaynerMedia, a media consulting company, said people are relying more on mobile devices and the Internet for decision-making.

‘ ‘Twitter has created a new platform in which marketing can be measured more effectively at a cheaper cost. Certain smart organizations are taking advantage of it while others are not,’ Vaynerchuk said. ‘Food trucks have a fresh perspective for customers and differentiate themselves from traditional establishments.’

ComScore, a marketing research company providing data about the Internet, reported earlier this year that Twitter usage increased 95 percent in March, with numbers jumping from 9.8 million to 19.1 million. The report also estimated that in the United States alone 9.3 million people have active Twitter accounts, a number that increases every day.

Two things are for sure: these gourmet trucks don’t have plans to close up shop and the Internet isn’t going anywhere. But the vote is still out on Twitter. After all, it’s still too soon to tell whether or not the website is just a fad.

‘ ‘Twitter is both the latest shiny object and the real thing,’ Quigley said. ‘But, the underlying dynamics of what it represents are profound. This has the potential to marry communications and customer service.’