When it comes to adapting to change, some people leave heel skid-marks all the way to their graves. Others grab and run with it.

If you’re like me, you’re a tad intimidated by things you don’t understand. But if you’re willing to learn and don’t get too distraught when you make a mistake, you just might be a progressive spirit.

But be selective! Just because it’s “hot” and talked about, doesn’t mean it has value – monetary, educational or entertainment. The key is whether changing technology, for instance, will be useful to you. It had better have value since it often comes with a hefty price tag, plus a time commitment to learn.

Take social networking for instance

A few months back, I dinnered with some public relations folks, and asked, “How do you see ‘Twitter’ and ‘FaceBook’ social mediums paying off in the future?” These people were communicators, and they just scratched their heads – or chins. Zip answers.

Farm marketers, who have non-farm customers, make heavy use of Web sites, and some use of ‘FaceBook’. The latter is a quick, easier way to update visitors.

But ‘Twitter’? Right now, this medium doesn’t score good marks. Pear Analytics, a data research group, recently studied 2,000 tweets to determine if tweeters were sharing mindless babble or if something more intellectual was going on. The answer . . .

• 40.55% of all tweets are pointless babble 
• 37.55% were termed “narcissistic conversational oversharings”
• 8.7% were deemed of pass-along value.

So unless you have time (which most farmers don’t) to babble (which most farmers don’t), stick to tractor driving and reading things of potential value.

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