Ordinary yet extraordinary

I sat down trying to figure out the whole social media, being an ag advocate, blogging, texting, instagraming, facebooking, tweeting, periscoping, messengering, facebook live, and all I could think is, wow, things have changed. I used to look at advocacy and education as a one on one interaction, or at most, an educational setting where there was a education interaction. Then the new wave of communication emerged: social media.

I truly look at it as both a blessing and a curse. (A blessing, otherwise I wouldn't have this platform!) One where access is immediately granted, providing that link to instant gratification, where what you read, hear and see is the truth, regardless of the source. Which then leads to the curse: instant satisfaction where what you read, here and see is the truth, regardless of the source. So how can something be both amazing and hated at the same time? Easy, social media.

Social media can be a great tool! You can keep in touch with friends and family, learn about different events, become active in different organizations and causes, as well as just learning to express yourself. It can also be a destructive tool. Harassing, bullying, hate, lies, misinformation, all areas of social media that can be so detrimental to individuals that all the benefits become worthless. However, this doesn't have to be the case.

Social media can be used as a tool for education, communication, humor, memories, and connecting to one another. It can especially be a tool for connecting individuals with common interests and ideas. Agriculture needs to find these tools and connect to other individuals, to help provide greater knowledge to others, to be truthful voices so that the general misconceptions have an answer rather than silence. Agriculture needs to take the new ordinary, day to day social media and use it to its fullest potential, take the ordinary social media and make it an extraordinary view into the world of agriculture.

rdinary social media and make it an extraordinary view into the world of agriculture.