By Seth Harden, Education Specialist, National FFA Organization
Have
you ever heard the adage that 77 percent of statistics are made up on the spot?
I have always found this to be humorous, but a few recent articles published by
The Washington Post and the World Economic Forum have highlighted
just how quickly false science, conspiracy theories and other fiction can
spread in our unprecedented era of unbounded connection and communication with
virtually every other human on Earth. Unfortunately, agriculture is often the
subject of attack.
In
fact, sharing of misinformation has become so prolific that it warrants an
entire field of research, including terms such as confirmation bias, echo
chambers and trolling. Even
Google and Facebook, which undoubtedly had a hand in creating the art of
self-publishing, are developing trustworthiness scores and newsfeed algorithms
to combat falsehoods.
How
does this change the way we share the impactful stories and progressive science
of agriculture? This all depends on how we leverage the capabilities of online
platforms. In 2015, the National FFA Organization #SpeakAg Initiative
challenged students to share their own agriculture stories with the masses
through social media. Nearly 150 students participated and estimated that their
audience was 55,000 people collectively. We can be certain that many of these
students are housed in their own echo chambers, electronically socializing with
others who have similar mindsets, but the impact of such a small group of
students cannot go unnoticed.
If all
or even a portion of the National FFA Organization’s 629,000+ members were to
be trained in effective advocacy through credibility, respect and literacy,
imagine how the future of the agricultural consumer-producer interface could
improve for the better. Informed tweets, posts, shares and snaps could reach
millions and stifle misinformation with pure saturation of fact. Students have
demonstrated the ability to impact the present through modern era tools like
social media, but more importantly, they will be the influencers of public
perception, consumer trust and production practices as adults in the
not-so-distant future.
National
Ag Day provides student leaders in agriculture with the opportunity to put
these skills to the test not only locally, but also in Washington, D.C., a
place where discussion and collaboration are a way of life. National Ag Day
serves as a symbolic reminder of the need to advocate 365 days of the year for
an industry that feeds us, clothes us and provides solutions for other facets
of society through a complex interconnectedness of an ever-advancing set of
technologies that could be our friend or foe at any moment.
