Legal Research

"Social Media for Lawyers - What's Your Purpose?"

Posted by Allison Shields: "Social media for lawyers has become a 'hot topic' - suddenly everyone wants to talk about it. This month I'm talking to two separate groups of lawyers about social media, next week I'll be meeting with some colleagues to discuss some other programs and workshops specifically geared toward lawyers' use of social media, and next month I'm presenting to yet another group on the topic. Lawyers are asking what social media platforms they should participate in and why. But it's the 'why' that I want to address in this post.

Yesterday I was speaking with a colleague about lawyers and their use (or lack of use) of social media. We were discussing the reasons why lawyers, particularly those in larger firms, might be resistant to the idea of making social media a regular part of their day to day practice building efforts. We each identified very different reasons why we think it makes sense for lawyers to engage in social media, and why we are participating ourselves.

As a result of our conversation, I thought it made sense to reiterate a point I make often with my clients - before you begin using any marketing or practice building tool, you must define the purpose for which you are using that tool. You must have a reason for choosing to participate and identify what goals you want to reach or what results you expect to achieve.

Last week, during a presentation on social media I asked a group of lawyers how many of them were on LinkedIn. Almost everyone raised their hands. Then I asked them, "Other than putting up a profile and occasionally inviting someone you've met at a networking event to connect with you, has anyone done anything else with LinkedIn?" Not one person had. Most of them didn't know there was anything else to LinkedIn other than posting their profile and occasionally (usually haphazardly) inviting others to connect or accepting invitations they had received..."

Continue reading this interesting post at Allison's blog site:

Source: Legal Ease Blog, 10 December 10, 2009

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on December 11, 2009 (boomark / email).