A Lesson from Space

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This is Cmdr Chris Hadfield’s Twitter account.

Cmdr Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut. He was the first Canadian to walk in space and the first Canadian to command the International Space Station (ISS). He returned to Earth in May and has now retired at the age of 53.

While in space he gained millions of fans through his prolific social media posts. He was the first person to use Twitter in space. I started following him on Twitter a few months ago after hearing about his interesting tweets. Through his Twitter account he shared amazing photos of Earth from space, as well as videos of life in space. I think it’s fair to say that most of us will never travel to space so seeing these photos/videos and reading his tweets was a way for us to get a glimpse into an astronaut’s life in space. And he continues to tweet about adjusting to life back on Earth.

Cmdr Hadfield embraced social media during his time in space. He understands the power of social media. As I was reading his tweets, the thought crossed my mind that the agriculture industry could learn a lesson from Cmdr Hadfield. (Trust me to find a way to link this blog post to agriculture!)

Cmdr Hadfield was one person and he reached millions of people through social media. What if many more farmers, ranchers, ag associations, ag companies and members of the ag industry embraced social media and shared their stories/photos/videos? Think of how many people could be reached. Cmdr Hadfield is a great example that we in the agriculture industry can learn from.

I encourage you to fully engage in social media, share your positive stories and be transparent – just like Cmdr Hadfield. From outer space to agriculture here on Earth.