Social networking: Increasing your presence while having fun

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I do not consider myself a technologically advanced person. My husband is responsible for setting up DVD players and surround sound, and if he was not in my life I would likely still have a tube television and dial-up Internet. That being said, this past year I have found myself relying on social networking (LinkedIn, blogging and Twitter) in ways that are increasing my presence in our online legal community. I’m having fun, and it’s not too hard.

Blogging provides instant feedback and an opportunity to share your voice: My foray into the world of social networking started when I began writing this column for Minnesota Lawyer. Those of you reading this column in print may not realize that Minnesota Lawyer also has online articles and blogs on its website. These blogs provide a forum for people to respond to the pieces and to fellow readers’ comments. More recently, I also started blogging weekly for another legal site. My increased internet presence means one thing: reader feedback.

For some, of course, writing in a public forum with immediate feedback could prove torturous. David Foster Wallace’s fabulous new nonfiction book “Both Flesh and Not: Essays” was just released, and it makes this point clearly. In one essay, Wallace muses on the subject of “why writers write.” He describes his own personal torture (but also elation) when he realizes he is “being read on the a.m. subway by a pretty girl.” While Wallace describes his difficulties realizing readers were reading his works, hearing that a fellow lawyer read my post or even vehemently disagreed with my piece makes me feel more connected to our legal community. A key difference may be that Wallace experienced the weight of attempting to write something great, and I am happy to just share my thoughts without typos. There are specific benefits, however, when lawyers post pieces online: We usually receive writing feedback in the form of a response brief (that will accuse us of failing to do our job) or a court order weeks or months after a submission. Immediate feedback on a blog can prove both invigorating and exciting.

As a junior attorney, blogging is also entertaining because it provides a place to assume my own voice — not simply that of a client — in stating a position. In a world where our drafts may be subject to multiple rounds of edits, I am also tickled with the opportunity to own a piece of writing from start to finish. A collaborative brief can be a wonderful creation, but a blog piece of my own also offers its own joys.

Twitter lets you know what others are thinking: As fun as it is sharing my thoughts, it is also great to hear what others in our legal community are thinking and discussing. When you join Twitter, you elect to “follow” certain individuals or publications.  If one of your picks posts something on Twitter (a link to an article or a comment) you can follow along, respond or even “retweet” their content.

Rest assured, you don’t have to know the ins and outs of Twitter to get started. When I first began tweeting, I was intimidated by Twitter’s secret language. People use hashtags and Twitter slang, but you don’t have to know what the jargon means to dive in and start finding interesting articles to read or conversations to weigh in on. Ignore the stuff you don’t know and you will slowly find yourself figuring it all out through context. Alternatively, you could just Google “How to Use Twitter” and figure the whole thing out in an hour.

LinkedIn in lets you keep track of your colleagues: I was late to the social networking sites. After working for several years in Washington, D.C., I joined Facebook only when I entered law school because everyone else was doing it. When I learned about a professional social networking website called LinkedIn, I was excited. We all want to know when our friends leave one firm for another, join the U.S. Attorney’s Office or decide to publish a book. Better to have this information firmly planted in a universe separate from Facebook and its pictures of adorable babies and weekend barbeques. LinkedIn lets us keep track of our network without requiring us to be on everyone’s mass email list. These days, I find it easier to pull up a friend’s LinkedIn profile when I want to give them a call than to pull up their vCard on Microsoft Outlook.

The trick, of course, is to keep your profile updated so that you’re pulling your weight in cyberspace. I check my profile a few times a year just to make sure everything is still current (and debate adding additional information). Because it is hard to promote yourself, I also drag friends and colleagues to my profile and ask for suggestions. I always offer to do the same in return.

Do these efforts count as marketing? I don’t know. Through my blogging, tweeting and LinkedIn profile I have reconnected with friends from all stages in my life. Lawyers that I have never met are “following” me on Twitter. And when I Google my name, I am the first response — not the vintage arts-and-crafts jewelry designer named Sybil Dunlop who used to pop up during Google checks. I don’t anticipate that my efforts online will directly translate to finding clients, but through these activities I feel more connected to the legal community, both in Minnesota and beyond. And that certainly can’t hurt.

Sybil Dunlop joined Greene Espel in 2010. Her practice focuses on representing individuals, corporations and public-sector entities in business and governmental defense litigation. She can be reached at [email protected].