Internet Based Mass Media in Extension: Blogs, Twitter, and

You…tube

UC ANR Sustainable Food SystemsOctober 11th, 2010

David Doll

Identified Region

Current Extension

Farm Visits Phone

calls/Emails/Mail Annual Meetings

Newsletters Magazines, Popular

Press Blog Twitter Youtube, Scribd,

Wikipedia

Tech Illiteracy

Personally satisfying

DPR Credit

Builds County Support

ID Collaborators

Younger generation, new farmers

Accessibility

Easier, cheaper dispersal

People Skills

Writing Skills

Current Events

Language Translation

Great for PD

Potential Audience

Brand ID

Trad

itio

nal

Mass

Med

ia

Mod

ern

Mass

Med

ia

Modern Mass Media

Blog (June, 09) 184 entries, 132,541 page views

Twitter (March, 10) Promotion, updates - 221 Tweets, 126 followers

Youtube (May, 11) Video Blog Entries 5 videos, 1226 views

Scribd (June, 10) Upload .pdfs, .ppts, and .docs 26 uploads, 7,087 reads

Wikipedia (Open Source Encyclopedia)

What is a “blog”?

A web log (blog) is an online tool occupies a space somewhere between static webpages and interactive social media formats

Contains “posted” articles Usually in reverse chronological order with

most recent posts on top Early versions were essentially online

journals or diaries Kind of a hybrid between a newsletter and

webpage, but allows for reader interaction

The Almond Doctor: Some Perks

The Almond Doctor: More Perks

Why Google Blogspot?

Search engine market share Google weights their

hosted websites higher Ease of use, apps,

ownership of other technologies (Youtube, analytics, etc)

Go to the people…

And the Survey Says…

Other Web-Media: Youtube

Other Web-Media: Scribd

Other Web-Media and Promotion: Twitter

Analytics: Measuring Impact?

This All Sounds Too Good to be True…

Takes time If not regularly updated, low traffic Spend 4 hours a week for website and promotion▪ Answering emails, phone calls, and comments

Must be up to date with real issues facing clientele Difficult unless program involves constant contact

DOES NOT replace traditional extension methods, but works synergistically Not everybody learns by reading, some people

dislike videos, some people do not have internet Has not yielded any research collaborators

Would I Do it Again?

Filled a void within almond production extension

Gives an online presence for UC, our research, our programs

Nice compliment to my extension program

Helps increase impact and outreach to new clientele, clientele without advisors