The practice of agriculture has been around for thousands and thousands of years. Ancient Civilizations used agriculture to be one of their main sources of food for centuries, which is similar to now as modern society uses agriculture for that same purpose. Agriculture has always been a life line for thousands of people, whether it is a food source or a source of income, and though this craft has been around for so long it lacked certain aspects that could make it perhaps more efficient. This of course changed with the emergence and wide spread use of social media. Social media shapes our entire society, but more specifically it has also noticeably changed agriculture and what I think is for the better.
There are so many forms of social media out there, social networks, blogging sites like this one, and social websites that are more conversational in nature such as forums. More specifically some examples of these sites are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WordPress, Reddit, LinkedIn, Pintrest and many more. Another great thing about these sites is the ability to share the information that you find interesting or insightful. Therefore if you find something that in some way helped you, you can share that same bit of information in hopes that you will have the same effect on someone else. Here is a guide to the use and “Power of Social Media in Agriculture.”
This brings us to the important question of how does social media effect agriculture? And is the effect positive or negative? It does in fact turn out that social media positively affects the realm of agriculture in many ways across all the different platforms of social media. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all do a great job of sharing and relaying information to both the producers (the farmers), and the consumers. For example many farms have accounts for these social networking sites and post things related to the production and development of their crops and or livestock. This seems pretty interesting to me even with my limited knowledge with in the field of agriculture. I often see advertisements about a specific farms production layout as well as crops and livestock they provide. I’ve also seen retweets of people I am following on twitter referencing a farmer/blogger who blogs consistently about his own experiences as a farmer and the things he does on a daily bases as related to agriculture. The three of these sites also utilize the function of posting pictures of things related to their organizations and the things that they produce.
Moving on from the more popular social networking sites, there are also less popular ones that hold great importance in the field of agriculture. This includes many different sites but two of the most important of which are WordPress and LinkedIn. WordPress allows for farmers to creates blogging sites and write about their farms, the things that they produce, and the status of many things occurring on the farm at once. This is also a good tool for readers to become more familiar with the individual that is supplying their food, which in many cases provides a sense of knowledge and ease for many consumers, especially with the use of genetically modified organisms. Many of these blogs are quite interesting; here are some cool ones to check out.
Agriculture has evolved over thousand and thousands of years, and though something remain the same it continues to evolve. With the continued climb of social media agriculture will become more and more efficient, and an ancient practice will become modern.