Five Reasons for Lawyers to Use Social Media

Reason #1: To Learn

The exchange of information ' about people, events and ideas ' is the essential function of social media. Reading a blog post, for example, gives you information about its subject matter. Writing a post allows that knowledge to sink in even more thoroughly. But there is a more subtle and indeed more comprehensive kind of learning that goes on as one becomes part of an online community.

One also has the opportunity to develop content and ideas. A Facebook status update or a post to Twitter is an opportunity for conversation. Most blogs allow readers to leave comments in response to posts, and many blog authors use this feature to carry on dialogue with readers. Commenters may end up in conversations of their own, without the involvement of the author. It is in this context that helpful learning can happen.

Blogging is particularly useful for enhancing one's legal knowledge. An attorney who commits to maintaining a topic-specific blog builds credibility as he or she develops and refines substantive expertise in that area. Sure, all good lawyers try to stay up-to-date with developments in their practice areas, and it is relatively easy to passively read what those new developments are. But to discuss those developments through writing and online interaction requires a more concentrated and disciplined effort.

This effort has some pleasant knowledge-related side effects. Apart from gaining substantive insight through tracking an area of the law, one ends up with an organized set of analysis ' a comprehensive notebook, if you will. Many bloggers report consulting their own blogs to research questions arising in new client matters. Moreover, through blogging one will learn about technology. If a person takes on the task of registering a domain name, securing a hosting account and installing blogging software, he or she is bound to become more tech-savvy.

Reason #2: To Expand and Maintain a Network

This reason to use social media is largely self-evident, but some of the nuances are worth discussing. Using social media will put you in touch with others who are interested in your subject area. Through this inherently personal mode of communication, they will become interested in you as well. And you will probably find them interesting. You will meet other attorneys, students, reporters and ordinary people. Connecting with each of these groups has different value and potential.

Getting to know other attorneys will provide you with possible collaborators. The chair of a bar association committee may read one of your blog posts and ask you to speak to the group. An attorney in another part of the country may find you on LinkedIn and ask you to be local counsel. A solo transactional attorney may come across your video podcast, see your eloquent presentation style, and look to you to handle litigation matters.

Communicating with students who friend you on Facebook, follow you on Twitter or drop an e-mail after reading something you have written gives you a valuable opportunity to mentor. Of course, some students contact blogging or Twittering attorneys as part of the job search. But any interaction with a greenhorn professional is a valuable chance to help put that new or soon-to-be attorney on a positive path.

Having contacts in the press can be a good thing to raise one's profile. Reporters often resort to Google searches to find people to interview. LinkedIn pages and blogs have content that is highly visible in search results. So if you start using social media tools, do not be surprised if you get a phone call from a reporter asking you for your take on a developing story or trend.

Reason #3: To Become a Better Communicator

Brevity is key when generating online content. (Twitter permits only 140 characters!) People will generally not spend a lot of time reading what you post, so you have to get to the point. You must be concise and clear. This will make you a better communicator.

Reason #4: To Do Something Good for the Profession

Lawyers are often criticized and ridiculed for being arrogant or somehow otherwise deficient in human conscience. (Think of the times you have introduced yourself as a lawyer, only to hear in response, “I'm sorry.”) By using social media tools, you can more easily show your human side. A Facebook profile, for example, demonstrates you have a life outside the law, and gives those in your network a view into who you really are. It is likely that side of you will be more likeable than the one appearing on your firm's Web site touting your “substantial experience.”

What's more, your use of social media can benefit the profession by functioning as a public service. It is a simple fact that people looking for legal information go online. If you have written about or otherwise discussed some topic on which someone needs help, you have, in a sense, provided pro bono service.

Reason #5: To Have Fun

Social media is fun. It is entertaining to join conversations and meet new people. It is satisfying to know you are doing something good for your career and the profession. Learning about new legal and technological developments is enlightening. Exercising your sense of humor with your online friends is enjoyable. In general, social media can provide a positive experience. Your colleagues may respect you more. And some have reported that social media will make you more attractive to your spouse or significant other.

But What About: 'To Get Clients?'

That reason is intentionally absent from the list because all the other reasons merge into that one. By learning, networking, helping others, communicating better and having the appropriate amount of fun, you will become a better lawyer. Clients want good lawyers. You see the connection.

Are There Any Reasons Not to Use Social Media?

Of course there are reasons not to use social media. For one, it is better not to use social media at all than to use it incorrectly. Avoid thinking of ' and using ' social media strictly as a means to get clients. This looks phony, and your readers and contacts will see through it. Just be yourself. Be genuine and authentic, and people will read and follow you.

Social media may not be the best use of your time. Perhaps the kinds of clients you are pursuing generally aren't online. Or perhaps your target client would not base its hiring decision on something you put on the Internet. If you already have loyal clients who keep you prosperously busy, a healthy work-life balance, and are generous with your time in serving others, then social media is probably not for you. But the day is as wide as it is long. For most of us, there are opportunities to develop, both personally and professionally. Social media tools provide one way of doing that.

These days there is a lot of talk about lawyers using social media ' writing blogs, posting to Twitter and maintaining profiles on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. This popularity might be due to the wider availability of social media tools and the shifting demographic of a profession that has more digitally raised attorneys joining its ranks. The downturned economy may play a role in this as well, with lawyers looking for new ways to find work.

Because social media is a time investment, one should determine whether the pursuit is worthwhile. No doubt there are plenty of social media proponents singing the praises of concepts like connection, community and collaboration. We hear talk about transparency and how “content can be your best advertising.” One can certainly bring about positive results through a planned and disciplined social media strategy.

This article recommends using social media for business and career development, and presents five non-exhaustive reasons why attorneys should consider using social media for themselves or for their firms. The what and how of blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc., are beyond the scope of what is covered here. This discussion is about why a lawyer might want to use social media.

Reason #1: To Learn

The exchange of information ' about people, events and ideas ' is the essential function of social media. Reading a blog post, for example, gives you information about its subject matter. Writing a post allows that knowledge to sink in even more thoroughly. But there is a more subtle and indeed more comprehensive kind of learning that goes on as one becomes part of an online community.

One also has the opportunity to develop content and ideas. A Facebook status update or a post to Twitter is an opportunity for conversation. Most blogs allow readers to leave comments in response to posts, and many blog authors use this feature to carry on dialogue with readers. Commenters may end up in conversations of their own, without the involvement of the author. It is in this context that helpful learning can happen.

Blogging is particularly useful for enhancing one's legal knowledge. An attorney who commits to maintaining a topic-specific blog builds credibility as he or she develops and refines substantive expertise in that area. Sure, all good lawyers try to stay up-to-date with developments in their practice areas, and it is relatively easy to passively read what those new developments are. But to discuss those developments through writing and online interaction requires a more concentrated and disciplined effort.

This effort has some pleasant knowledge-related side effects. Apart from gaining substantive insight through tracking an area of the law, one ends up with an organized set of analysis ' a comprehensive notebook, if you will. Many bloggers report consulting their own blogs to research questions arising in new client matters. Moreover, through blogging one will learn about technology. If a person takes on the task of registering a domain name, securing a hosting account and installing blogging software, he or she is bound to become more tech-savvy.

Reason #2: To Expand and Maintain a Network

This reason to use social media is largely self-evident, but some of the nuances are worth discussing. Using social media will put you in touch with others who are interested in your subject area. Through this inherently personal mode of communication, they will become interested in you as well. And you will probably find them interesting. You will meet other attorneys, students, reporters and ordinary people. Connecting with each of these groups has different value and potential.

Getting to know other attorneys will provide you with possible collaborators. The chair of a bar association committee may read one of your blog posts and ask you to speak to the group. An attorney in another part of the country may find you on LinkedIn and ask you to be local counsel. A solo transactional attorney may come across your video podcast, see your eloquent presentation style, and look to you to handle litigation matters.

Communicating with students who friend you on Facebook, follow you on Twitter or drop an e-mail after reading something you have written gives you a valuable opportunity to mentor. Of course, some students contact blogging or Twittering attorneys as part of the job search. But any interaction with a greenhorn professional is a valuable chance to help put that new or soon-to-be attorney on a positive path.

Having contacts in the press can be a good thing to raise one's profile. Reporters often resort to Google searches to find people to interview. LinkedIn pages and blogs have content that is highly visible in search results. So if you start using social media tools, do not be surprised if you get a phone call from a reporter asking you for your take on a developing story or trend.

Reason #3: To Become a Better Communicator

Brevity is key when generating online content. (Twitter permits only 140 characters!) People will generally not spend a lot of time reading what you post, so you have to get to the point. You must be concise and clear. This will make you a better communicator.

Reason #4: To Do Something Good for the Profession

Lawyers are often criticized and ridiculed for being arrogant or somehow otherwise deficient in human conscience. (Think of the times you have introduced yourself as a lawyer, only to hear in response, “I'm sorry.”) By using social media tools, you can more easily show your human side. A Facebook profile, for example, demonstrates you have a life outside the law, and gives those in your network a view into who you really are. It is likely that side of you will be more likeable than the one appearing on your firm's Web site touting your “substantial experience.”

What's more, your use of social media can benefit the profession by functioning as a public service. It is a simple fact that people looking for legal information go online. If you have written about or otherwise discussed some topic on which someone needs help, you have, in a sense, provided pro bono service.

Reason #5: To Have Fun

Social media is fun. It is entertaining to join conversations and meet new people. It is satisfying to know you are doing something good for your career and the profession. Learning about new legal and technological developments is enlightening. Exercising your sense of humor with your online friends is enjoyable. In general, social media can provide a positive experience. Your colleagues may respect you more. And some have reported that social media will make you more attractive to your spouse or significant other.

But What About: 'To Get Clients?'

That reason is intentionally absent from the list because all the other reasons merge into that one. By learning, networking, helping others, communicating better and having the appropriate amount of fun, you will become a better lawyer. Clients want good lawyers. You see the connection.

Are There Any Reasons Not to Use Social Media?

Of course there are reasons not to use social media. For one, it is better not to use social media at all than to use it incorrectly. Avoid thinking of ' and using ' social media strictly as a means to get clients. This looks phony, and your readers and contacts will see through it. Just be yourself. Be genuine and authentic, and people will read and follow you.

Social media may not be the best use of your time. Perhaps the kinds of clients you are pursuing generally aren't online. Or perhaps your target client would not base its hiring decision on something you put on the Internet. If you already have loyal clients who keep you prosperously busy, a healthy work-life balance, and are generous with your time in serving others, then social media is probably not for you. But the day is as wide as it is long. For most of us, there are opportunities to develop, both personally and professionally. Social media tools provide one way of doing that.