Part 2: Twitter,
learning to compose your thoughts into 140 characters or less
By: Erin Shea
(From
The Kentucky Cattlemen's Association Magazine "Cow Country
News")
So you?ve created a Facebook
page. You?ve connected with your family, caught up with some old
friends and even made some new ones. What?s next?
Maybe try composing a Tweet, a
140-character message sent out on Twitter to let others know what?s
happening in your daily life. Twitter is so easy to use, that
Tweeting can be done at all times of the day, and many users send out
Tweets from their smartphones.
?I
find that while I?m waiting for a water tank to fill is a great
time to utilize my smartphone as a way to integrate this into my
daily routine,? Mike Haley, Ohio farmer and social media user said.
?Through these updates, conversations often start and others are
able to ask and learn more about some of the practices we use on our
farm.?
Haley, along with his wife and
father, farm soybeans, corn, wheat and hay, and raise purebred
Simmental cattle. Even though they are very busy with their farm,
Haley says he dedicates at least 10 minutes to using social media.
Before you start, its important
to realize that owning a Twitter account may be an everyday job. Many
organizations and individuals on Twitter log on more than once a day.
As with any social media outlet, it will take time to build a
fanbase.
?It?s
a question of do you want to commit that time? Do you want to spend
the time to build that following? Is that something you?re
comfortable with?? Ray Bowman, owner of Farmstead Media Group and
social media user said.
However, especially with
Twitter, users should realize that interaction between people who are
posting Tweets and the followers is still just a conversation. Bowman
explained that the successful, i.e. popular, users are the ones that
hold conversations with their followers.
?Social
media is all essentially, basic communication,? Bowman said. ?And
communication doesn?t mean carrying on a monologue, it means
carrying on a dialogue.?
Others users like Haley seem to
agree, as he describes Twitter as a conversation happening one
sentence at a time. Although Twitter can be a bit confusing at first,
Haley advises people to just jump into the conversation, and not be
intimidated by the lingo used and is something that will come with
time and usage.
So what makes a Twitter account
successful? Obviously, the initial popularity of the individual or
group who runs the account will have something to do with it, but
there are ways to gain popularity online.
Regular social media users say
that posting quality material, something that people are interested
in and want to read, is a big factor. Jesse Bussard, Public Relations
Chair for the NCBA Young Producers Council says that posting quality
material is the most important factor in gaining followers.
?People
who follow you, do for a reason, and it?s usually because they feel
that what you?re posting is worthwhile and important,? Bussard
said.
Another
useful aspect of Twitter is the chat forums. Specifically, in the
agriculture community is the popular group AgChat, which meets online
on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. to discuss various agriculture topics.
The group has grown into a non-profit foundation that offers media
resources and networking opportunities for farmers and producers,
including training in social media. Information is listed on their
website at www.agchat.org.
The winners of the 
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