Legal Research

Something to Twitter About?

By David Bilinsky

? Tell me something good
Tell me that you like it …
What I got to give will sho nuff do you good.. ?

Lyrics and Music by Stevie Wonder, recorded by Rufus and Chaka Khan, “Tell me Something Good“.

While Simon Chester may be leading the discussion on the application of Twitter for lawyers, there is no question that Twitter has proven its value for legal technology conferences.

There were many new and exciting aspects about ABA TECHSHOW 2009 including Richard Susskind’s keynote address on the end of lawyers. But to me, in looking back at ABA TECHSHOW, it was the influence and power of Twitter that is leaving the biggest impression.

What effect did Twitter have? I think it drew together a vast group of individuals and made them feel part of a ‘happening’. By subscribing to, reading and posting to #TECHSHOW, everyone with a laptop, Blackberry or other smart phone could tie into the collective experience of ABA TECHSHOW. If you had Twitter, you were part of the group. Not only could you listen to Richard Susskind’s keynote, you could tune in and read the thoughts and impressions of: @jordan_law21 (Jordan Furlong) or @TomMighell or @bobambrogi or @stevematthews or @allisonshields or (you get the picture). Moreover, you could gain insights into sessions that you were not even attending by just following the Twitter stream.

So what, do you say? One of the necessary components of any self-organizing system is the requirement to have a feedback loop. Twitter provided that feedback loop. Twitter acted as the central nervous system of the Conference. It allowed people to come together and not only share experiences, it allowed them to assemble in groups - witness how @kevinokeefe organized his Beer for Bloggers event Friday evening after the last session by simply blogging and tweeting about it - which was then virally picked up and spread like wildfire at the Conference.

It also allowed those who were not present to gain knowledge and spread the word. @rkodner (Ross Kodner) couldn’t be there this year, but that didn’t stop him from RT (re-tweeting) to his twitter network the tweets that he found most useful. This could only have raised awareness of ABA TECHSHOW and increased the odds that more people will come to ABA TECHSHOW next year, as Twitter has amply shown the value of the education programs to lawyers and others in the legal delivery process.

There were other (*positive*) effects. For one, seeing someone’s twitterpic meant that identifying people in the crowd became easier (I think this is an important effect of Twitter and those individuals who use a graphic rather than their picture may want to rethink that decision…). Conversations were easier to strike up, as you were not speaking to a stranger - you were speaking to a Twitter friend. Embedded in tweets, you received links to blogs and other web pages that contained useful content that were created right at the conference.

Twitter wasn’t finished after the conference was over. Courtesy of the #TECHSHOW hashname, blog posts and after-event details were Tweeted and noted. By my anecdotal impression only, #TECHSHOW generated far more tweets than #LMA that was happening at the same time (well, not just anecdotal - at the height of the conference, #TECHSHOW showed up on the top Twitter Tending Topics).

So when you next attend ABA TECHSHOW, certainly subscribe to the Twitter feed - what they have to give will sho nuff do you good…

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on April 08, 2009 (boomark / email).