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.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08804
Notes:
Pages 61-83 in Debra A. Reid, Interpreting agriculture at museums and historic sites. United States: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Lanham, Maryland. 265 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 159 Document Number: C25935
Notes:
Presented at the 2007 ACE/NETC conference sponsored by the International Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) and the National Extension Technology Conference (NETC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico on June 16-19, 2007. 6 pages.
