Nicole Polcyn

ENC 1102

Dr. Dieterle

Everything that we touch and consume today has been created through the agriculture

industry. Agriculture involves the cultivation and processing of plants and animals, and was a

key factor in developing the human civilization into what we know it as today. Today the

agriculture field has made groundbreaking scientific discoveries that are sparking conversations

all around the world. These intellectual conversations are actively endorsing participatory

culture, an idea from Henry Jenkins, where individuals express themselves through

communication with other people while using unique technological platforms(Jenkins, 2019).

This creates an atmosphere where civic engagement is valued among the participants in an

appreciative environment. The online agriculture community has become an excellent

representative of participatory culture as observed from the interactions between young

agriculturalists and multi-generational farming families.

One group who is creating change across the world wide web is an online agriculture

discussion page known as AGDAILY. A group of agriculturalists decided to create

knowledgeable articles about what’s really happening in the agriculture industry. They make

posts at least once a day if not more about current trends in agriculture. I decided to choose this

community because in high school I was actively involved in an agriculture program which has

helped me to understand that when using the internet and it can be difficult and confusing trying

to find factual information. I realized that most of this confusion comes from the diction or

words people use on the internet when relaying information. This communication between the
writer and the audience can create a discrepancy and can have an effect on others understanding

of a topic. Communication within a community and amongst two people is principal in creating

an atmosphere where people can share their opinions. Considering the negative connotation and

marketing against agriculture I decided to study an online agricultural community in order to

understand how agriculturalist interact with each other and the public. I do have one question I

hope to answer by the conclusion of my research, and that is “How does AGDAILY and the

agricultural community positively advocate for agriculture without invalidating their intended

audience’s opinions?”.

On the internet, conversations can be interpreted in numerous of ways which may lead to

miscommunication and misunderstandings between the writers and their audience. This is why a

couple of agriculture supporters decided to launch AGDAILY through a website and on other

social media platforms. AGDAILY speaks about trending agriculture issues and helps to

accurately convey the culture of farming and information to the public (Babe, F., & Reporters,

A., 2019). Jenkins writes that, “Participatory culture is emerging as the culture absorbs and

responds to the explosion of new media technologies that make it possible for average consumers

to archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content in new powerful ways” (Jenkins,

2019). This is specifically true for the online agriculture community because their innovative

website allows for viewers to easily find what they are interested based on the different section

which includes livestock, technology weather, crops and even articles about farming lifestyle. If

there are new stories or discoveries made, anyone may send the creators a report to send out

through their AGDAILY community. All articles are shared to AGDAILY’s instagram, facebook

and twitter where followers are able to share, like, and comment about the information in the

article. These interactive settings truly allow anyone to make a contribution and just like jenkins
stated, that the environment will let every member feel that “what they contribute will be

appropriately valued.” (Jenkins, 2019). Intellectual conversations are crafted between people,

and what people are saying is being valued instead of everyone trying to constantly invalidated

each others feelings.

On June 6th AGDAILY shared how biotechnologists are updating a 32 year old process

for genetically engineered crops in order to “protect plant health, promote agricultural

innovation, and modernize biotechnology regulations”(Babe, F., & Reporters, A., 2019). In order

to try to create a boost in public confidence, since under the new system, all genetically

engineered crops would be evaluated under the same rules and regulations. AGDAILY provided

an educational article about new biotechnology regulations to inform consumers about a more

unified system so there wouldn’t be such a large variety of labels which could become difficult

to understand all at once. The reporters had a positive connotation without reflecting whether

they believed this was a positive or negative change happening. The reporter used direct quotes

from the USDA in order to decrease the chance of miscommunication between what the USDA

said and what the reporters have written about.

Feedback can be extremely beneficial to improving how information is delivered and

expressed or even communication between experienced people and newcomers. These kind of

interactions in an online community between participants can exemplify the significance of a

participatory culture. AgUpdate is a blog online that allows farmers to create agriculture articles

to share with one another. Steve Bohr an Institute of Food Technologists decided to create an

article about advice he felt was essential for new farmers to know as they created their legacy in

farming(Bohr, 2019). Bohr expresses his concerns about new technological advancements and

how this could old farming practices that have finally become accepted in today’s world. Yet as
the blog continues, Bohr makes a similar realization that Jenkins made, the younger newer

generation is developing new technologies which is actually making interactions between people

more simplistic.

The agriculture industry continues to provide for the populations ever-growing demand

for resources. Although this is imperative to the survival of the human race, the agriculture

community is communicating to consumers all around the world through social media platforms.

They are succeeding in their mission to accurately convey the culture of farming and agriculture

information to the public through positivity. By exemplifying a participatory culture AGDAILY

showcases their ability to value everyone’s opinion and instead of attacking or negatively

invalidating each other's thoughts. AGDAILY has efficiently provided factual information to

their audience in order to share knowledge instead sharing what they believe is right or wrong.

Citations

Jenkins, H. (2019). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the

21st Century (Part One). Retrieved from

http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2006/10/confronting_the_challenges_of.html
Babe, F., & Reporters, A. (2019). Your Source for Agriculture News, Trends & Farming Videos |

AGDAILY. Retrieved from https://www.agdaily.com/

Bohr, S. (2019). Wisdom in an old farmer's advice. Retrieved from

https://www.agupdate.com/iowafarmertoday/opinion/columnists/farm_transition/wisdom-in-an-

old-farmer-s-advice/article_3738d112-fc68-56c7-8538-227497388db4.html