Urban Farmers via Social Media Groups: Role of Internet - based Information Services in Meeting Urban Agricultural Information Needs

Abstract

Social media has become a vital part of social life. It affects the beliefs, values, and attitudes of people, as well as their intentions and behaviours. Meanwhile, the emerging trends in Internet - based Information Services via social media enables governments and organizations to engage people while allowing consumers to make informed decisions. In supporting the Malaysian agriculture information needs and demands, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Library were looking forward to provide the best practices in Information Services via Internet based and social media on Urban Agriculture, which is in line with the university goals “Strengthening UPM as a Centre of Excellence in Agriculture” besides the WLIC 2018 theme “Transform Libraries, Transform Societies”. The purpose of this case study is to describe the initiatives taken by several netizen which have same interest in Urban Agriculture by developing a Social Media Group for the sake of local communities in Malaysia. In particular, the significant role of analysing social media is to advance the understanding of information sharing, communication, opinion formation, and dissemination could be recognized. The social media group were named “Kebun Bandar: Jom Tanam Sendiri” (Urban Farm: Let’s Plant) which encourages resource-sharing, through the social media locally and globally, in the urban agricultural context. This case study on specific social media group will find the information needs of urban farmers and provide guides in Web based...