ISHS Acta Horticulturae 1084: VIII International Peach Symposium
EVERYTHING ABOUT PEACHES: WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUTUBE, AND OTHER TOOLS FOR PEACH GROWER EDUCATION |
| Authors: | D.R. Layne, P. Tögel, E. Massey, D. Bowen |
| Keywords: | peach, germplasm evaluation, database, social media, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, grower education, public education, Google alerts, Google analytics |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1084.59 |
| Abstract:
Commercial peach growers around the world desire reliable, unbiased, research-based information for their education and to aid in decision-making. Often times, however, they are overwhelmed by the vast amount of disparate information from varied sources that exists on the Internet. These same individuals are typically time-limited, sometimes they may lack technical savvy, and they may get frustrated when searching for meaningful content. In July of 2010, we launched a new peach website at Clemson University called “Everything About Peaches” (http://www. clemson.edu/peach). The goal of this website was to create a “one-stop-shop” for peach information that could be helpful for the commercial grower, backyard grower, and consumer. Since its inception, the site has been regularly populated with diverse content and links to reach the aforementioned audiences. Resources include research and technical reports, production and management guides, topical educational columns, frequently asked questions and answers, recipes, etc. There is a section called “In the News” that features numerous interviews and stories (local, regional, national and international). Another section entitled “Videos” has 50 educational videos ranging from topics about cultivars, to maturity management, recognizing orchard stress, etc. The videos have been viewed more than 60,000 times by individuals from around the world. There is an “Audio” section with radio interviews (statewide and national). There is also a germplasm/variety evaluation searchable database with performance data of more than 300 cultivars and advanced selections over more than 10 years at four different locations. The entire website can be searched for content by keyword. Finally, in 2011, we launched both Facebook and Twitter to grow our user community and to engage with them using contemporary social media networking. Both the Facebook (Facebook.com/peachdoctor) and Twitter (twitter.com/peachdoctor) feeds appear on the aforementioned website as well. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
