Why should agriculture
producers care about social media
tools? It’s really quite simple: mass
influence.
Consumers aren’t just learning
about food production at
local farmers’ markets; many are
using social media to educate
themselves. Today, most farmers
use computers, the Internet, cell
phones, smartphones, and perhaps
even electronic tablets or notebooks.
But when it comes to social
media, many still lag behind. That
may mean they are missing great
opportunities to interact with and
educate the public, not to mention
promote their farms and their
products.
Social media refers to Internetbased
applications that allow the
creation and exchange of usergenerated
content. The value
of social media is that it blends
technology and social interaction.
Social media is a culture changer,
not a fad. In an era of 500 million
Facebook users, 50 million tweets,
450 million mobile Internet users,
and 68 million bloggers, society
has shifted.