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So, I was hacked by a spammer…and social media saved me.

A fellow PR professional described the experience of having one’s Twitter account invaded in more technicolour (and unrepeatable) terms but it added up to the same thing: a mini, online crisis isn’t nice.

Why a crisis? I’m not a multinational brand with millions of customers who could, so easily, be turned off me and onto a competitor by a faux pas, I’m an individual, with nothing to lose, right?

Maybe. But when your Twitter followers are being bombarded - in your name - by the spammer’s bogus tweets that may put their own online security at risk, they could be forgiven for being a bit miffed. And if a migration of followers away from your account ensues, who could blame them?

But that’s where the power of social media comes into play: within minutes of the first illicit tweet leaving my Twitter account, people in the network were alerting me that something was wrong and sharing advice on what to do next. Nobody was offended and everyone was sympathetic to the downright inconvenience a hacker causes all round. After I’d apologised to those who’d been spammed, the messages back showed the patience and understanding of, well, a community rallying round.

Given that I’ve never actually met the majority of people in my online network and our mutual connection is by virtue of  social networking platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn, this is a reassuring example of human interaction at its best.

Now take that and apply it to a company faced with a crisis; but a company that has - through its people - built up a community through engagement, conversation, sharing of knowledge and being neighbourly. Just as my online network extended a helping hand to me, why shouldn’t the same loyalty be given to a brand in need?

Some say social media is being sold as “snake oil”. But trust me, it’s good to know you’ve got friends when you’ve been bitten.

Surely, awards for online communities should go to spiky-haired early adopters in skinny jeans, brandishing Apple Macs or tech industry behemoths with fancy gadgets to flog and trillions of marketing dollars to spend - right?

Wrong - the UK Association of Online Publishers has just given its annual Online Community award to a site designed for - wait for it - farmers.

Farmers Weekly Interactive, aside from news, carries all manner of social content including forums, blogs, photos, video and an online dating community called “Muddy Matches”, complete with an interactive quiz to assess how “muddy” (i.e., how country-fied) you are.

The AOP’s judges said: “FWI demonstrated there can be a light-hearted approach to a b2b site, providing social interaction and community tools relevant to its members and pushing the business media boundaries with ‘muddy matches’.”

What’s more, FWI shared the podium with the likes of ft.com, NME.com and Accountancy Age.  

Isabel Davies, community editor across the Farmers Weekly Group, says: “I think there’s a perception that farmers aren’t natural computer users but in fact many are very technologically-minded and willing to get involved online.

“Farmers are often working in isolation so appreciate the chance to let off some steam, swap information and chat with people facing the same problems. But what is also crucial to the development of the online community is the way we’ve integrated things with Farmers Weekly magazine, such as taking the best of the comments and pictures shared online and reproducing them in the magazine, which encourages new users and rewards existing ones.”

Having taken the muddy quiz myself - which places me one step down from getting soil anywhere near my shoes - I don’t anticipate many farmers’ daughters wanting my number.