Social media has wormed its way into our lives. At Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm, we have recently opened up an Instagram account to stay connected with you. And our Facebook account is still going strong. Did you know that we put special offers, coupons and contests on Instagram and Facebook? It’s true! We also share awesome photos of worms, composters, our happy customers, gardens – and we share seasonal tips, gardening ideas, composting knowledge and more!
Instagram is all about sharing pictures and videos. When it was launched in 2010, Instagram could only share square photos with filters (such as sepia, to make the photo look old-fashioned). Users liked its fast, easy-to-use mobile app for instant sharing from smartphones. Instagram now shows photos in any aspect ratio, not just 1:1. It also lets users upload 15-second videos. More than 300 million people actively used Instagram as of December 2014.
Setting up an Instagram account is free. Anyone with an account can “follow” other users and see their posts. Some accounts, like Uncle Jim’s, have no privacy and everyone can see all the posts. Some accounts keep posts secret until the account owner approves specific followers.
We set up our Instagram account in June, 2015. In just a few months, we already have nearly a thousand followers. Look at our Instagram account and you will see posts like this:
The image is accompanied by a caption we wrote – in this case, a composting tip. The words starting with “#” are “hashtags”. They help people find the post. Even people who are not following Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm can find the post, if they are searching on a specific hashtag. For example, someone interested in gardening might have automatic searches set on the hashtags #garden, #composting or #sustainable. They could see the post. If the Instagram user who posted it (Uncle Jim) seems interesting, they can elect to click “Follow” and receive the posts in their main photo stream.
We see that 94 users liked the post by clicking a little heart. Three people made comments. This is a great way for fans to connect to each other and to Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm.
One good reason to follow Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm on Instagram is the special offers. We occasionally reveal coupon codes, sales and drawings for prizes.
We cross-post some of our Facebook posts on Instagram. Facebook has been around longer than Instagram, and it has more features. Uncle Jim’s Facebook page was created sometime in the distant past. Not much was happening, but it had 500 “likes” when we started really using it in the spring of 2012. In November 2015, we were at 5,000+ likes.
Facebook also has a “stream” of pictures, links, and articles related to gardening & composting. Our fans upload photos of their worms, composters and gardens. We run special offers, such as exclusive coupon codes and give-aways.
The trick with Facebook is seeing the posts. After a while, you won’t see Uncle Jim’s posts unless you have been liking, commenting and/or sharing them. This is how Facebook works. It wants to show you material that you’ve demonstrated an interest in. Here are two ways to make sure you see our posts:
- When you “like” the page, hover over “Liked” and choose “Notifications.” Ask to get notified of all posts. When there are new posts, they will show up as a little red number near the globe in the upper-right corner. Click the globe and then click on the posts. You might also be able to choose “Show in News Feed” to select how often the posts show up in your stream.
- If you already like the page, you can visit it and hover over “Liked.” Then, choose your “Notifications” and/or “Show in News Feed.”
- Whenever you see our posts, give them a “like.” If you are inspired, make a comment or share the post. Do this frequently, and Facebook will show the posts to you more often.
If you don’t do at least one of the bullet points above, you will stop seeing nearly all the posts. Only the most popular posts will show up, maybe as little as once every few months. Don’t miss out – change your settings or interact with the posts so you see them!
Our Twitter handle is @unclejimworms. Currently, we are tweeting some of our other social media posts on this platform.
Another way to stay connected to Uncle Jim’s is to subscribe to our email newsletter. This twice-a-month newsletter offers composting and gardening articles, product information, coupons and special offers. If you don’t already subscribe, please sign up for our newsletter.
We love connecting with you! Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook to stay in touch!
One thought on “Connect with Uncle Jim on Instagram and Facebook”
This is my first year working with worms and I’m having a blast. I started out putting an add on Craigslist for anyone who might have an abundance of worms to share. That’s how I got started. I just use a straight rubber maid tub with holes in the bottom and place it inside another tub on bricks to let the tea drip down. I found that they weren’t multiplying much after about 3 months so I ordered 500 red wigglers from Uncle Jim and started two bins placing 250 in each. About 4 months later i had sooo many worms i had to start a third bed. Now about eight months later I’ve had two harvests of about 3 – 5gal buckets of the richest casting. I’m having fun making tea, and just placing the castings around the base of my plants. I figure I know when to harvest when the light brown peat moss turns to solid black. I’m trying a thick layer of green grass clippings on top to see if they’ll come up and eat it. I harvest by dumping the bin on a tarp in the sun. I’m impatient so I have the next bin ready to go and start picking out worms and tossing them in the new bed. Of course I scrape the top layer off and it goes in a bucket. I keep an eye on the bucket for a stray worm to hand pick out. It’s tedious but I enjoy it. The worms are all sizes. I even pick put the eggs and toss them in the bin. I welcome any questions anyone might have.