4 pages, via Online journal, Since late Mar. 2020, many universities halted normal operations due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Although extension uses many different techniques to educate consumers, it has been slow to grasp the power of social media. Faced with a dilemma of using digital methods instead of in-person field days, short courses, and workshops, Twitter was a viable alternative, especially for broad audience engagement. Tweet threads were posted on Twitter every Monday morning from 6 Apr. to 8 June 2020. Each thread consisted of 10 tweets. A hashtag #YardFruits was used to start the thread and for later reference. For the first nine threads only one fruit species was discussed per thread. The final thread consisted of single tweets of several species. Engagement percentage did not differ over time but did differ among the crop species. Tweets that did not include a photo received less engagement (2.7%) than those that did include a photo (4.7%). My Twitter account saw a 6.5% increase in followers during the series. Grape (Vitis sp.), passion fruit (Passiflora sp.), fig (Ficus carica), and pear (Pyrus communis) threads had the least engagement and were different from the Other Fruits thread. All other threads were similar. Extension educators can grow their influence by using well-targeted, focused tweets and tweet threads, especially those that use hashtags and photos.
Russell, Mark (author) and Morris, Pamala (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2008-03-09
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 167 Document Number: C27986
Notes:
Presented at the 24th annual conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education at EARTH University, Costa Rica, March 9-15, 2008. 11 pages.
22 Pages., Consumers have varying levels of trust in agricultural production practices, which can influence attitudes, shift opinions, and change behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine what agricultural messages are considered the most trustworthy among consumers and what differences exist among five dimensions of trustworthiness. With a pro-agriculture video as the stimulus, this study used continuous response measurement (CRM) to collect data from 151 post-secondary students who were randomly assigned to evaluate one of five trustworthiness dimensions (trust, honest, sincere, dependable, reliable). Participants used handheld dials to continuously rate their evaluation of the messages in the video then completed a questionnaire to provide additional insights. Overall, participants trusted agricultural messages, although some specific phrases were rated more positively than others. Participants had more trust in messages that portray agriculture as a family endeavor and create connection between producers and consumers. Participants indicated skepticism in messages revolving around farmer/rancher motivation in agriculture. The results support the importance of strategically tailoring and crafting effective messages. Recommendations for future practice and research are discussed.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C19048
Notes:
Paper, Master of Education, Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Page 45 in Jasper S. Lee and Ruby D.Rankin (eds.), Summary of research in extension, 1988-89, Volume 4. College of Agriculture and Home Economics, Mississippi State University, Cost analysis of the PENmail system for communication within Penn State Cooperative Extension. The system "has proved to be cost-effective and, in fact, avoiding costs of $240,202 annually."
Peterson, Warren E. (author) and Swanson, Burton E. (author)
Format:
Manual
Publication Date:
1989-10
Published:
International Program for Agricultural Knowledge Systems (INTERPAKS)
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 136 Document Number: C20747
Notes:
Burton Swanson Collection, 101 pagesm preparted under cooperative agreement no. DAN-4148A-00-4004 between: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)m University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
