Conferences
Utilizing Digital Media to Educate Producers: Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Paul Goeringer and Candice Foster
Summary
This presentation will focus on the wins and lessons learned from utilizing blogs and other digital media to educate agricultural stakeholders. Recent studies from the Pew Research Center found that over half of all Americans get their news and information from social media and other digital sources such as blogs, YouTube, and podcasts. By appropriately utilizing these digital media avenues, Extension faculty can effectively reach broader audiences and provide more timely feedback.
This presentation would highlight one state-level resource the University of Maryland utilizes to inform the public about timely legal changes through a blog and podcast approach. At the same time, the lessons learned in that process should be highlighted when the presented information does not follow traditional Extension review processes.
Finally, the session would highlight a regional approach to digital outreach with Southern Ag Today, a weekday daily blog highlighting developments in agricultural economic and farm management information that producers in the South need to know. The blog includes over 219 potential authors; each article is peer-reviewed before posting. This portion will focus on the lessons learned from taking on this daily feat and not missing a day in almost 3 years of publications.
The session will allow time for others in the audience to discuss their lessons learned as well and allow new Extension faculty to think about the benefits of starting a blog or other digital media approaches before beginning this endeavor.
Details
| Conference | 2025 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference |
| Presentation Type | 30-minute Concurrent |