ARE YOU NEW TO FACEBOOK? EXPLORE FAN PAGES WITH THIS TUTORIAL!

Feb 17, 2011  |  Today's News

In recent months, Illinois Corn has made an effort to connect our farmers to non-farmers and other resources via social media.  Often times, Facebook is the outlet they choose.  This might be because Facebook can be more intuitive.  Or it might be because they have heard about it through wives, friends, neighbors, grandkids, etc.

Regardless, I’m hoping that there are several Illinois corn farmers out there with relatively inactive Facebook accounts that are just looking for something to do.  I’ve got just the thing – fan pages.

A fan page on Facebook is almost like a website.  There are fan pages for musicians (think Elvis Presley fans), there are fan pages for causes (are you a conservative?  Try Being Conservative, and fan pages that join people together around random ideas (like this one about what you could name your baby.

But for those of you with agricultural pursuits, you might consider the following list of fan pages.  Many have great information, all have great communities.  And if you are looking for an avenue to start those conversations about agriculture that we’re always talking about, you could start here.

IL Corn

Agriculture Everyday

Corn Belt Agriculture brought to you by Kyle Winkelmann

Thank a Farmer

She’s Country

4-H

Friend a Farmer

The Hand that Feeds Us

Here’s what you do.  Click on the fan page and look around.  If the information on the page is appealing to you, you press the “like” button (with a thumbs up) at the top of the screen.  Now, the updates and information from this page will be fed into your homepage so that you can read exactly what they are saying.

facebook like button

And in order to have those conversations we’re talking about, simply read an update and the comments others have made and type your thoughts in the “write a comment” box. 

facebook comments

When you get comfortable exploring ag related pages, I’d encourage you to seek out fan pages that represent your other interests.  Are you active in your church?  There are faith based fan pages.  Are you an avid golfer or basketball fan?  There are sports based fan pages.  Stepping away from the agricultural industry and making comments about your experiences and morals as a farmer on other pages are when we really start utilizing social media to reach urban, non-farmers.

Was this confusing to you?  Email me at lmitchell@ilcorn.org and I’ll help you through it. 

Enjoy!

Bottom line: Get comfy with Facebook Fan Pages and move ag conversations to non-ag venues!