Buford1
Buford
Emily Morgan
CO 150
21 July 2011
Assignment 3: Analysis
Social media is one of the most influential resources that we have in today’s society. Whether it is information about celebrities, technology, gossip, sports or even agriculture, this information spreads faster through social media than any other source of media. While I was researching for a topic to argue about, I came across a blog written by a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advocate who was rioting about the treatment of farm animals and how their owners –farmers and ranchers- use and abuse them. Now, growing up on a farm and ranch I have firsthand experience with the proper treatment of animals, and we do not use and abuse them. So, as you can imagine this blog infuriated me; in fact, it angered me so much I began researching social media and agriculture. After investigating several websites, I had discovered that the internet and social media have injured the face and traditions of American Agriculture which has led me to my inquiry question for my argument paper: How has social media ruined the face of the Agricultural Industry?
Several stakeholders come to mind when pondering my inquiry question. One stakeholder would be anti-agriculture groups such as PETA, Humane Society of the United States, and Taking Action for Animals, just to name a few. These anti-agriculture groups use the internet and social media to their advantage by corrupting the truth about agriculture. Social media has been a wonderful tool for the anti-agriculture groups because they can blog or post articles regarding animal abuse and the audience they are writing to are the 98% of American people who do not have direct ties with agriculture, according to the American Farm Bureau. If this argument were to have a final outcome, these anti-agriculture groups could lose credibility toward their values as an organization and it would most definitely not be in their favor.
A second stakeholder would be the agricultural community. In the agricultural community there are spokespeople who would testify that the internet and social media has helped the agricultural industry by educating the public about the production and process of food. The agricultural community has been attempting to educate the public about agriculture and its resources for years, and now the internet and social media has helped deposit this information in a more efficient way. Agriculturists can connect with the American public, for example, by logging on to the Ag Chat Foundation website to discuss the appropriate topics of agriculture. Overall, this argument paper would help agriculturists gain the edge on educating the American people.
The American public could be a third stakeholder because they are the people who read information through the internet and social media. With that being said, the majority of the Americanpeople believe much of the content that is posted by anti-agricultural groups or other similar organizations. Agriculturalists have been attempting to reach out to these people to help them see the truth about agriculture through the use of social media. The American people must be educated about agriculture because agriculture is and always will be the backbone of this great country. If this argument paper were to appear in public, the American people would begin doubting the anti-agricultural groups and begin listening to the truth about agriculture.
Since the topic of social media and the internet is a big factor in today’s society, I would have to say that social network providers would also be a stakeholder. The network providers would be an appropriate stakeholder because they are the central station of where this information is being transmitted to the American people. Whether it is anti-agriculture groups or agriculturists, the social networking websitesare where it all happens and the network providers need to be informed. Agriculture is a hot controversial topic and the network providers need to be in the loop so they can transfer the information efficiently.
After researching several sources about agriculture and social media, I have realized the potential arguments that may form from these sources. One potential argument could be that social media has enhanced the agricultural industry because agriculturists can relay information at a high rate of speed with little effort. I assume most agriculturists would agree with that statement, however, there is also another side to that argument. The other argument would be social media has injured the face of the agricultural industry. I would be an advocate for this argument because I see social media as an enemy to agriculture. I believe that there are many anti-agricultural groups in the United States utilizing social media as a way to injure the face of agriculture. I am writing this argument paper to inform American agriculturists and people that social media has and will ruin American agriculture if no effort is put in to help resolve this situation.