Social media are platforms that connects different people from different locations around the world, in these platforms we get updated about recent happenings of what people do and how it was done. It gives us a clear knowledge of occurrences around the world without even being at the spot of its happening. Social media brings information to our door steps. Example are Facebook, twitter, E-buddy, Eskimo, Instagram etc.
Agriculture on the other hand is the cultivation of land(s) for crop production, rearing animals that is livestock farming, for the sole purpose of fending for man and for man's other use.
Of course, social media has a major role to play in agricultural sector, since social media creates awareness to the globe as a whole, it can then serve as a means of advertising agricultural produce. Farmers now have another responsibility after harvesting their crops or when the agricultural products are ready for sale. All they have to do is snap pictures or videos and put them on social media, by doing this they are creating global awareness telling the world what they have done and how they did it, and in a twinkling of an eye, your agricultural produce has go e viral online.
Social media, YES, social media is a friend to Agricultural sector to me, it promotes marketing and creates awareness of different agricultural products. People believe that social media brings misinformation or most times false news are been spread around on social media misinformation is one of the largest killers of any industry, but agriculture is not the first to face false accusations. Farmers are continuously learning how to repute it through the use of social media.
People are reluctant to be wrong and accept new information as truth, even when it is something they did not know. But social media is not always our enemy, farmers can use it to their own advantage. social media is very useful tool in agricultural marketing.
It saves time and cost of the farmers for getting information. Sharing stories via social media can also have a negative impact on consumers because of that lack of understanding and distrust, but that is why social media is a vital tool to moving forward as farmers, consumers, and a worldwide community.
Social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, twitter etc allows farmers or agricultural personnel to speak director with consumers based on their products. The world today is a world of social media and its use use in agricultural marketing increases rapidly on daily base. Social media connects farmers to farmers, connects farmers to other agro-business dealers and agro experts including other millions of people globally, serving its main purpose of sharing information and creating awareness.
Importance Of Social Media To Agriculture
Social media conveys information faster round the entire globe, in a twinkling of an eye its just everywhere, with accessible views to everyone.
It creates awareness to so many persons at the same time.
Social media overcomes geographical barriers, hence, reducing the stress involved in the dissemination of information about a particular product.
Its creates a farmer/user - consumer/user interface where so many persons can be connected at the same time and many consumers can communicate directly with the producer of the agro-based product.
Social media saves time and cost of the farmer.
It also helps the farmer to get the right information at the right time, information such as weather report, different techniques of growing a particular crop in different ways and other valuable information which is of great help to them.
So I consider social media as a friend and not as a foe to Agriculture.