Social media has become a major method of communication, with hundreds of millions of users on platforms like Twitter and Facebook. These tools are increasingly used for real-time news sharing, organizing around issues, and coordinating emergency responses. The document provides examples of popular hashtags for categorizing tweets about food-related topics and events. It also lists some useful search and media-sharing tools for social media platforms.

1. Spreading the Word

2. Impact of Social Media
• Twitter: 106 million users
• Facebook: 500 million users
• International use (60, 70%)
• Emergency response, Online petitions
• Real-time news updates, solidarity

3. Hashtags: helping you find interesting
tweets
• Use the ‘#’ in front of keywords or topics to
categorize tweets
• Popular food hashtags:
#foodjustice, #GIPSA, #farmbill
#localfood, #usda, #foodsafety
• Other hashtags:
Weekly: #ff, #foodtrivia
Events: #Rural11

4. Useful Tools & Applications
• Search: Technorati.com, Tweetscan.com
• URL shortener: bit.ly
• Photo/Video: Twitpic.com, Twitvid.com
Questions? Email sarahd@whistleblower.org