Ag & Social Media
Giving Agriculture a Voice in the Conversation
Why should agriculture care about social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? It’s really quite simple. Mass influence. Facebook reached 150 million users nearly three times faster than a cell phone. Social media is a culture changer, not a fad. If you’re not at the table, you can’t be a part of constructing the face of agriculture – nor can you counter the misinformation campaigns around food, fuel, feed or fiber.
Anti-ag activist groups are becoming increasingly active on social networks and understand the power of messaging, according to Cause Matters Corp. research. The Humane Society of the United States has had a nearly 80-fold increase in their Twitter following since January 2009. Videos on animal rights and environmentalism increase 30% monthly. The conversation is happening about food and farm – even if farmers and ranchers aren’t at the table talking.
Do the math about how many opportunities you have to connect agriculture if 98.5% of the U.S. population aren’t actively engaged in farming. Food is an extremely hot issue – and it’s time for agriculture to leverage that through social media leadership to influence public opinion, rather than react to rhetoric. Following are resources to help you understand new media tools such as blogging, Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Even more articles are posted weekly on the Cause Matters Facebook Fan Page.
General Social Media Information
Pinterest Is a Virtual, Visual Pinboard for Collecting and Discovering Ideas
Pinterest is visually pleasing site for collecting photos and links to stuff you like and sharing them with others. Pinterest’s photo-rich interface has made it a great hit.
Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide to the Hot New Social Network
Like any new social site, there’s always the question, “How does it work?” Have no fear, soon-to-be-Pintrest fan, we’ll show you the ropes.
Getting Started in Social Media
The Evolution of Online Agvocacy
Farmers have a story and are learning to tell it. This video was featured at the opening session of the AgChat Foundation’s first ever “Agvocacy 2.0 Training Conference” in Rosemont, Illinois where 50 farmers gathered to learn more about the tools of the trade.
Discover Your Social Web (OFBF Guide to Getting Started)
Social media is all about building relationships, a key component in Ohio Farm Bureau’s mission to create a partnership between farmers and consumers.
Facebook Fundamentals
A Guide to the Facebook Timeline
New to Facebook’s Timeline? This is what you need to know.
Facebook Plugins Keep People on Site 50% Longer
Web surfers who log into third-party sites with Facebook Connect spend an average of 50 percent more time on those sites, and view twice as many pages.
Twitter Tips
Tweeting Without Fear
How Three Companies Built Their Twitter Strategies
Twitter for Business – An Introductory Guide
Learn how to start using Twitter to achieve your business goals. Maintaining an effective Twitter presence can be a powerful part of your business’ social media marketing strategy.
Blogging Backgrounders
The Ultimate WordPress Cheat Sheet
Messing around in WordPress is a pure knowledge thing. It’s the premiere blogging platform for blog owners, and it’s one of the easiest ways to set up your own blog whether you want to monetize it or just share the wondrous magic of your inner world.
Blogging isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving
There’s been a bit of commentary and opinion in recent weeks that blogging (meaning, written content longer than just a paragraph or two) as we know it is dying or even already dead when compared to the rise of Facebook and Twitter.
Leveraging LinkedIn
5 LinkedIn Tips You Didn’t Know
It may not be as dramatic as Twitter or as ubiquitous as Facebook, but LinkedIn attracts dedicated users who are serious about business.
Understanding Groups in LinkedIn
LinkedIn Groups will allow you to quickly discover the most popular discussion in your professional groups, have an active part in determining the top discussions by liking and commenting, and follow the most influential people in your groups by checking the Top Influencers board or clicking their profile image to see all their group activity.
YouTube Strategies
Top 10 YouTube Tips for Small Businesses
Video can be a very powerful tool for businesses of any size, but YouTube‘s free-to-use model, ease of use and mass market audience means it’s a great channel for small businesses.
Young Farmers on Twitter, Diapers & Family Values
Get a glimpse of the family values of today’s farmers. Zach and Anna Hunnicutt live in rural Nebraska with their two young children on a farm that brings you popcorn, corn and soybeans. They spent a few minutes talking with MPK about why they are huge fans of social media, why it’s useful to them and how it brings value to agriculture.
Need more training?
Don’t let all of the hype surrounding new media intimidate you; Michele provides common sense approaches to social media, combined with real life experiences of how farmers and ranchers have influenced significant change with these tools. She’s learned by rolling up her sleeves & building communities around food and agricultural issues, such as #AgChat and FoodChat on Twitter. Trainings range from one-hour webinars to a full-day workshops, or Cause Matters Corp. hand selects a few organizations to build a social media hub and then provide personalized training on each of the tools.
