Value in Twitter & Tweeting
To tweet or not to tweet – therein lies the question. Twitter is the rage of the season and a headliner in most media outlets. Since Oprah began tweeting last month, Twitter moved to mainstream from early adopters. Before you wave it off as youth fad, the numbers below tell you that people 35 and older are driving the success of Twitter as a business tool. According to ComScore, college age and teenagers are 12% less likely to tweet than middle agers.
The power of Twitter is in the conversation and community. The conversation is happening with or without agriculture. Communities are being engaged around issues such as animal rights, organics, GMOs, CAFOs sustainability, environmental regulations and other issues relevant to your business. Misinformation about modern agriculture is being proliferated, such as a self-proclaimed farmer in NYC.
In the last 24 hours, I’ve had a lively discussion about “factory” farms with people in the UK, L.A. New York City and Virginia. Are we going to change the minds of the extremists? No, but we can at least get agriculture’s side of the story told far more effectively than what we have in mainstream media. I’ve spent 8 years trying to help agriculture find its voice – and honestly can say I’ve never seen the engagement of different perspectives in the conversation like what has happened on Twitter.
Twitter is pretty simple – you find people you’d like to learn more about and “follow” them. You have 140 characters to communicate the info you want to share. Farmers tweet from their tractors and barns, ag media people are tweeting the latest news you need, academia are sharing technical information and commodity groups are spreading information about the value of farm products. If you need some help, just come on over to one of my new “Techniques for Ag Tweeps & Tweets” webinars. Or, connect with me on Twitter.
To tweet or not to tweet – it’s up to you, but if you’re in agriculture, I’d suggest you jump on the train before you look back and realize it’s run with conversations running rampant that further misconceptions of our business. The power is in the people – and you hold those reins. Get started now….https://twitter.com
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Michelle,
I will echo for Twitter comments. I think the agriculture discussions you moderate on Tuesday nights have been a great way for people to “eavesdrop” on our conversations. You’re right in that we need to get our voices out there!!
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to talk about “farming” to a 35 year old whos only connection to farming is seeing a duded up 20 year old step down from a jacked up, lighted up pickup truck with huge tires, big tail pipes and a bumper that would look better on freight train. Try to tell the 35 year old that times are tough for the farmers and you get a hearty horselaugh. Be careful of the message you send by your actions.
A former farmer.
Cliff Galley