by Christine Dubler, Community Leadership major

Today I’m going to take the time to talk about the use of social media in agriculture.  It’s no new news that social media is the center of our society; in some ways good and other ways bad. The benefits of using social media are endless: quick, up to date information, directed at specific target audiences.  Social media is also a great way to reach more than just the agriculture industry.  Social media opens the door for agriculturalists to connect and educate others about what agriculture is and how it is relevant to our daily lives.

I’ll use some of my own examples to explain the ideas above. I like to go about educating others about agriculture through pictures. I love Instagram. When I am at an agricultural related event, which is a lot, I take lots of pictures.  However, simply posting those pictures doesn’t do the deed.  Every picture needs an interesting and informative caption to go with it.  In the past few years hashtags have also become a vital part of social media.  Using a hashtag will group your post or photo with other similar hashtags (Example: #foodthanks).  Another reason I like to use Instagram is the ability it gives me to post my photo on other social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.  Posting the photo to other media sites allows me to share the information with hundreds and thousands of other people.

Social media should be used to the best of its ability to promote and educate the greater population about the prominence and lasting effect agriculture has in our society.

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This blog post was an assignment for  Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.