An investigation into the use of social media for knowledge exchange by farmers and advisors

As social media provides the opportunity for communication and knowledge exchange among rural actors and with better access to mobile devices and broadband, its popularity has grown in the rural sector. This paper explores rural actors' knowledge exchange from a preliminary investigation of advisors and farmers' social media use in a United Kingdom pasture-based dairy farmer Facebook group with 1208 members and the Twitter activity of 48 New Zealand farmers and advisors. Results suggest that rural actors are engaging in international social media networks for knowledge exchange that supports on-farm decision making. The analysis revealed that network hot spots and opinion leaders were key to this knowledge exchange. Although not an exhaustive investigation, the research suggests that social media provides a valuable tool for rural innovation by acting as a communication platform that stimulates individual and collective learning and promotes weak ties necessary for innovation.