Social Networking

Should farmers or cattlemen be on Face Book or My Space should we have a web site or Blog should we even consider Twitter? Or should we continue doing everything the same way that gramps did it forty years ago? I am 55 years old and trust me these new technologies are not a natural fit for me, but by golly I refuse to be left in the dust of a twenty year old because I am either to hard headed or intimidated of the technology to give it a try. Social networking is here and I don’t foresee it leaving any time soon if anything I believe it is going to continue to grow. Following are a just a sample of articles that discuss or at least point out within the article the growing value of utilizing these social networks.


http://farmindustrynews.com/shop-office/business/0101-farmers-using-social-media/

http://shinydoor.com/social_media_agriculture

http://www.ffa.org/ageducators/mad/issues/1002/story1.cfm

http://www.angus.org/pub/newsroom/releases/040110_ybic.html

http://www.angus.org/pub/newsroom/releases/020110_ncbaancw2.html

http://www.beefusa.org/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Cattlemens-Beef-Association/119381467680?v=info

I don’t think that social networking is the only thing that is going to change the way we do business. Back in October my husband Ronnie our son Jacob and I all gathered around Jacob’s computer at our office in Pensacola. We gathered to watch the Coleman Angus sale on the internet, not only did we watch we purchased a lot from the sale. I would not have imagined this ten years ago, but it sure makes good sense to attend sales in this manner. It saves time travel and dollars while still allowing us to participate. I would have loved to be able to watch a cattle sale on TV ten years ago, or tune in to a show like Cattlemen to Cattlemen. Registering our cattle has even changed to an online activity either online or using software that has been designed and developed to make our lives easier and more efficient.

I am not saying that I don’t ever want to attend another cattle sale. I love attending sales and seeing old friends and meeting new people that share my interest. I also love attending events such as the National Western Livestock show this is another way to interact with other breeders; I look forward to attending a National Cattlemen’s Convention it is definitely on my bucket list. But I am also going to continue to develop my social networking abilities. I still haven’t been able to spread my wings on twitter but I am not going to give up until I crash and burn!