S ocial media, meet the #Felfie
You all know the selfie. Some of you have seen the belfie (unfortunately). Now it’s time to meet the felfie.
What is a felfie?
Inspired by a competition in the Irish Farmers Journal, there’s a new blog collecting #felfies: selfies taken by farmers. The photos have gone viral, spawning a Twitter hashtag trend, and William Wilson (@willwilson100) hopes his blog will “put a face to the farmers who work to put food on your table.”
P.J. Ryan, winner of the competition which spawned the felfie. Photograph via IFJ Facebook
Recently, the Guardian published an article delving into how social media is changing the perception of farming, dispelling myths and spurring new communication. It stands as a great example of how an industry not frequently associated with the web is leveraging a social platform for awareness and connection, and it’s something both social media marketers and professionals in other industries should take note of.
The phenomenon has roots back to March 2012, when Simon Haley (@halo42) co-launched #AgriChatUK, a Twitter roundtable discussion which runs Thursday evenings. The hashtag quickly rose to prominence, drawing farmers from great distances together on the network. Haley told the Guardian:
“Farming can in many ways be very, very lonely. This is a great way to bring people together and enable them to communicate with each other in an easy manner.”
The lesson:
For those outside the farming industry, the lesson is twofold.
First, find the human connection. Social media is a great opportunity for marketing, yes, but first and foremost it’s about making a connection – and that’s something to never lose sight of.
Second, consider starting or joining a weekly social media hashtag roundtable in your industry. It’s no small undertaking as it requires consistent, quality engagement. However, when successful, the communities that rise out of these are both creative and enduring.
Want proof? Just browse a few of these felfies and try not to smile.
Gary works from his apartment in Portland as Zbra Studios’ Senior SEO Strategist (mostly in pajamas, with a cat or two nibbling at his leg). Those in web3 may known him as weary (or vvveary, give or take a “v”), where he works in the moonlight hours on the core team of the MetaArchitects HUB.
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