Comments on: Social Networking for Lawyers: What Works? What Doesn't?

By: Blawg Review #203 « GeekLawyer’s Blog

Blawg Review #203 « GeekLawyer’s Blog — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:01:54 +0000

[...] all the triviality Twitter has powerful marketing and communication potential. LawyerKM examines the relative utility of Twitter versus Facebook for networking. Look at Kevin O’Keefe’s [...]

By: Internet Lawyer

Internet Lawyer — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:34:36 +0000

I agree that the move toward online “feedback loops” is gaining momentum, including sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. I would add that the impact of these online communications mechanisms will (and probably has) impact traditional media. I wrote commentary on my blog about this phenomena at http://www.lawtechtv.com/home/2008/11/twitter-as-a-ne.html.

Of course there are pros and cons for each, especially from a legal perspective, but the fact remains that online communications are becoming mainstream. Consider the recent efforts of the Obama Campaign as an example of the use of “cloud computing” and real-time communications both within the campaign organizers and externally to those potential voters in “cyberspace.”

The movement is prolific – we began in the Agricultural Age, moved to the Industrial Era, “jumped the curve” to the Information Era, and now we are at the tipping-point to embark on the “Commmunications Age.” There is also an interesting article on the site (above) that references productivity improvements for law firm practice management using search & KM.

By: Maren

Maren — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:22:42 +0000

Robert Ambrogi (former editor of National Law Journal and Lawyers Weekly USA) has recently published an article about social networking sites exclusively for lawyers: http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/08augsep/legalonline.html
To me legalonramp (www.legalonramp.com) and lawyrs (https://www.lawyrs.net/) look pretty interesting: Legalonramp to get in touch with inhouse lawyers, lawyrs.net to develop an international network of lawyers.

By: Lurker

Lurker — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:30:58 +0000

You can try the Ask a Question tab and you’ll probably get some responses fairly quickly. I did a quick search through the Answers database and found that another person had asked for Immigration lawyers in Canada, so the question seems not to violate any LinkedIn rules…

By: LawyerKM

LawyerKM — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:45:55 +0000

@Susan – Thanks. I do understand the concern about lawyers not wanting to publicly recommend someone, but the beauty of Facebook (and Twitter for that matter, as you’ve noted) is that you can make a request publicly and people can answer privately – via FB email.

And I love your analogy “Tweeting is backslapping and chatting on the street. Facebook is a coffee shop where everyone goes to hang and it has a more intimate setting.”

By: Susan Cartier Liebel

Susan Cartier Liebel — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:52:41 +0000

This is a great post. What I find most interesting when I use Twitter to get information like a referral is I don’t Tweet it to the general public. I actually DM (Direct Message) specific followers who I hope will have information I need and then they connect with me privately. And I find this type of connection faster than Facebook connections. I see Twitter as speed-dial information. When it comes to referrals, too, lawyers may not want to publicly recommend one over the other but would do so in a private tweet.

Your observations about Facebook are very astute. Tweeting is backslapping and chatting on the street. Facebook is a coffee shop where everyone goes to hang and it has a more intimate setting.

By: doug cornelius

doug cornelius — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:56:52 +0000

The problem with Twitter is that is so synchronous. As you point out, that twitter stream pushes things along very quickly. The twitter search has helped fill the void. If you are interested in knowledge management you can search on that: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=knowledge+management

Twitter is about the flow. Facebook is a portal collecting information about the person.