It never surprises me when I ask a group of farmers (or in last week’s case – insurance brokers) ‘How many don’t understand Twitter or think it’s a waste?’, the majority of hands go up. Why wouldn’t they. The top trending topics in Canada at this moment include ‘Happy Birthday Eminem’ ‘#wheniwas14′ and ‘#DontBeMadAtMeBecause’. For anyone looking for a new source of legitimate information, this can turn you off fast. That and the fact most assume tweets include coffee stop updates, lunch suggestions and other less than educational tweets. However, as I told my insurance friends last week, just give it a chance with a few of these helpful hints. 1. YOU DON’T HAVE TO TWEET! One of the most common misconceptions I hear about Twitter is ‘I don’t have anything interesting to tweet about, so why bother?’ My response – Don’t tweet then! You can still get an amazing about of information just by following subjects and people that you find interesting. 2. FOLLOW A LIST! If you aren’t sure who the best people to follow are, search for a ‘list’. This is collection of interesting people that someone else has come up with – meaning you don’t even have to do the work! For instance, www.twitter.com/shaunhaney/canadian-agriculture-8 is a collection of people involved in agriculture from across Canada. www.twitter.com/foodandfarming/news-media covers some of the top media outlets in Canada or one of my own, www.twitter.com/agrinewshound/ontag which is a look some of the top tweeters in Ontario Agriculture. 3. SEARCH! In the early days of Twitter, one of the most talked about components was the real-time search capabilities. That capability is still one of the great strengths it has. By simply searching for any term, you’ll be amazed at the content you can find. You can search simple words like social media, soybeans, or playoffs; or go further and try searching for a hashtag (which is the word following the number sign ‘#’, like the #postseason you see beyond home plate in the MLB playoffs. Popular hashtags in agriculture include #ontag, #westcdnag, or #harvest11). 4. GET IT TO GO! One of the great reasons I love Twitter is two-fold. Tweets are limited to 140 characters and I can get it on my BlackBerry. (Any smartphone you get has various Twitter apps that are free to download). This means you can scroll through the latest tweets whenever you find yourself with a few spare seconds. I’ll often check my Twitter in meeting breaks, while waiting to load or unload a product at the local co-op, or even when I’m milking cows and in between switching milkers from one set of cows to another. If you only check Twitter on your desktop, you’ll have a harder time realizing the ‘real-time’ value. 5. YOU DON’T HAVE TO TWEET! I can’t say this enough, because it really seems to be one of the big reasons many decide Twitter isn’t for them. I understand that Twitter can look a bit shallow on the surface, but by finding and following great information, it can be a very useful tool. I can keep an eye on growing or harvest conditions in my area and around the country, I can keep up to date on conversations about the dairy industry, and I can get headline news as it happens. If you aren’t using Twitter – what is holding you back? If you are – why do you like it?