I’m glad I could get farmers in the title three times. The reason for this post is the excellent response in comments to a recent story post Cindy did about Farm Bureau members engaging in social media. I really appreciate one AgWired reader who posted a comment with her observation after looking at some of the Twitter accounts of the farmers mentioned in the story, “. . . they do a good job of having conversations, but it seems to be with just other people in the ag industry and not “non farmers” as they call them.” So I tweeted this question with a link to the post “Are farmers only talking to other farmers?” That generated a number of responses through the blog as well as Facebook and Twitter. One of the recurring themes is that you can’t judge social networking and new media with just a quick look. This is about having an ongoing conversation that ebbs and flows. Some times it may just be with a few friends. Some times it might be with a whole new group of people. Kind of like real life, eh? And as some point out, they have both a business and a personal presence although there are some like me who combine both at the same time. What are your thoughts?
Here’s a list of excerpted comments that were posted:
I have to agree with everything that has been said. Social Media use in Agriculture is in it’s infancy and is growing by leaps and bounds. If each farmer reaches out to just a few outside farming amazing things will happen. I have spent quite a bit of time thinking of more than one way to reach out and not just through social media.
I also agree that ones total social media presence cannot be judged by just a brief look at a Twitter account. There’s so much more out there (blogs, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Quora, Foursquare, etc.).
And there are a ton of people who consume information without acting on it. My guess is the amount of people who have read this conversation, but haven’t said anything is overwhelmingly higher than those who are participating. And remember, there’s nothing wrong with preaching to the choir once in a while either…especially when it gets them singing the same tune!
I do talk to other farmers a lot using social media. They are my friends and I enjoy hearing updates about their farm’s. I have learned a lot about farms across the US and have even made some improvements to my farm after hearing some creative ideas by other farmers via twitter and Facebook.
Don’t discount the fact that we talk to other farmers a lot though, we do talk to others outside of agriculture a lot. Just this morning I enjoyed a conversation with a young lady from New York City. I also get at least one email or direct message a week from somebody that found me from social media and has a specific question about agriculture that they want to learn more about.
At the same time, the analysis of SM is not easily tackled in a quick one off. First, considering a tiny point in time isn’t representative of any efforts on SM. It’s about relationships. Second, I’d also suggest that my social media connections go WAY beyond Twitter with Facebook, blogs, etc.
Indeed many of us talk to farmers, but we talk to many non farmers as well. I talk with many moms, foodies and others of interest to me. I would say more than 75% of those I follow are non-farmers. I learn a lot from farmers and nonfarmers a like.