By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor
 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Even though in the last few months some farmers and ag businesses have joined the social media movement, many folks may still feel hesitant to join sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook, officially launched in 2004 by a Harvard University student, was originally designed to facilitate networking opportunities for college students. Since then, it has signed up 200 million users of all ages across the world, with 100 million added in the last eight months.

While on Facebook, users can network with classmates from high school and college, co-workers from current and previous careers and family and friends. Users can also upload photos, videos and update their status any time of the day.

Most recently, organizations such as the Ohio Pork Producers Council, Indiana Pork Producers, Milk Promotions Services of Indiana and farms such as Liberty Swine Farms and Kelsay Dairy Farm in Indiana have developed pages on Facebook.
The biggest obstacle for the Web-challenged may often be just starting a page on Facebook or Twitter.

Follow the steps below to join Facebook:
•Go to www.facebook.com and sign up by entering a full name, e-mail and password

•Build a page by including information such as education and work background, interests, activities, favorite movies, music, television shows, books and quotes

•Extras include uploading photos, videos and joining groups to network with people with similar interests and beliefs

•Add friends through e-mail, searching for names and through educational networks on Facebook

•Update friends and family by writing “What’s on your mind?” at the top of a profile page

Twitter, a social networking and microblogging service, enables users to send and read other users’ updates, known as “tweets.” Tweets are text-based posts limited to 140 characters in length, displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users – followers, or those who have subscribed to them.

Since its creation in 2006, Twitter has attracted nearly seven million users, a large audience that has grown over 75 percent from February to March, according to a recent New York Times article.
Follow these steps to join Twitter:

•Go to www.twitter.com and sign up by entering a full name, user name unique to Twitter, password and e-mail address

•Enter a location and brief biography

•Find “followers” through e-mail and by searching for names
•Update friends and family by tweeting or filling in “What are you doing?” at the top of a profile page

•Users can also re-tweet or repost another follower’s tweet

•Also, Twitter users, or “tweeps,” can reply to a tweet post by asking a follow-up question or making a comment

Farm World staff encourage readers to visit both the newspaper’s Twitter page at www.twitter.com/FarmWorld and its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/