A Study on Farmers’ Use of Social Media; Comparative Analysis of Mardin and Hatay Provinces

Abstract

This study was conducted in Hatay and Mardin provinces to investigate the tendency of farmers to use social media, the difficulties they face during the use of social media and the variables affecting the use of social media by farmers. The research consisted of data obtained from a face-to-face survey of 221 producers using proportional sampling method. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis, and chi-square analysis was used to examine the relationships between variables. The results showed that the rate of producers using social media was 77.8% in Mardin province and 73.8% in Hatay province. Additionally, farmers mostly use social media for communication with families and access to new news. Also, the most commonly used social media applications in both provinces were WhatsApp and Facebook. As a result of this research, it was determined that farmers don’t use social media sufficiently for agricultural activities, and it was suggested that farmers’ organizations and related institutions should carry out information activities for farmers to encourage farmers to use social media efficiently.

Keywords

• social media
• communication
• use of technology
• e-commerce
• agriculture