Legal Marketing & PR

Will lawyers adopt to social networking?

By Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC

There’s LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo Pulse, and .... other social networks.

In a recent article by Larry Bodine, he cited the following statistics:  Less than 8% surveyed believe social networking is important to them; 91% said they spend less than 25% of their online time working with social networks. Still, these are rather large numbers to be devoting to a networking process that is relatively new ... As with other technologies, we will have to wait and see if this takes hold.

But, if it does, it’s liable to grow like wildfire. One thing is clear: This process is still age-based. It is far more popular with those under 25 years of age. This is not something senior partners will get into in the very near future ... Will it produce business?  Some, like Kevin O’Keefe, say it has produced business. Others, like Tom Mighell, are more skeptical that this will benefit lawyers.

For myself, I’m not sure. But, I think it’s important to be registered ... just in case.   Reminds me of the sinner who went to hear a clergyman weekly. When asked why, he said he just wanted to cover all his bases.

It’s still tough to beat the traditional methods of networking. Going to meetings, calling people or sending hand-written notes or sending an email message. While “social networking” may become more popular yet, it will not replace traditional methods of staying in touch with friends and reaching out to others.

Full post as published by Law Biz Blog on April 25, 2008 (boomark / email).