Transformation of Agricultural Extension in the Digital Era: Farmers’ Perceptions of the Use of Social Media
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Digital Innovation,
Farmers’ Perception,
Social Media,
Spearman Rank
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Abstract
Farmers’ perceptions play an essential role in the success of agricultural extension activities, as they reflect how farmers receive, understand, and respond to the information provided by extension agents. Differences in perception are often influenced by farmers’ experiences, values, and ability to access digital technology. This study aims to analyze farmers’ perceptions of social media–based agricultural extension and to evaluate changes in their knowledge and attitudes after participating in such activities. The research was conducted in Tenrigangkae Village, Mandai District, Maros Regency, using a survey method by distributing questionnaires to members of the Minasa Baji farmer group. Data were analyzed using the Likert scale to measure perceptions and the Spearman Rank test to assess correlations among variables, while changes were evaluated using the Wilcoxon test with SPSS 20 software. The results showed that farmers’ perceptions of social media–based agricultural extension were categorized as fairly good, with a percentage score of 66%. All innovation attributes—relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, and trialability—were very strongly correlated with farmers’ perceptions (Spearman’s rho > 0.80, p < 0.01) The evaluation revealed an increase of 24.6% in knowledge and 42.3% in attitude, with a total effectiveness of 62.45%. This study offers a novel contribution by integrating innovation attributes with a pre–post evaluation of farmers’ knowledge and attitudes in social media–based agricultural extension.
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