From ILTA: “Social Networking: Learn the Rules of Engagement”

People have used the idea of “social network” loosely for over a century to connote complex sets of relationships between members of social systems at all scales, from interpersonal to international.  In 1954, J. A. Barnes started using the term systematically to denote patterns of ties, encompassing concepts traditionally used by the public and those used by social scientists: bounded groups (e.g., tribes, families) and social categories (e.g., gender, ethnicity).   For more from Wikipedia click here.

That led to “social media” which was used to define media that was designed to be disseminated through social interaction.  And social media uses the internet and web-based technologies to transform “broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many)”.  Yes, Wikipedia again.  For more click here.

What we have, in effect, is the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.  So I suppose, in a way, we have Mr. Barnes to thank for Facebook and Twitter.

It is something we have championed here at The Posse List and The Posse Ranch because using the tools of social media will raise your profile, create your “brand”, make you connections, etc.  As we have stated in numerous posts, an economic downturn actually allows individuals and organizations to reposition themselves.   Well, ok, maybe forces them to reposition themselves.  But this repositioning allows Posse List members to find more creative ways to serve their constituencies and to raise their profiles in doing so by making contacts (and friends) and networking to the fullest to show their abilities.  Or in the vernacular to “leverage” their abilities.  Because even if you are a contract attorney simply coding in a document review room that is an infintesimal amount of who you are, what you are, what you can do.

And the technology is out there to show everybody.  As Bob Ambrogi  has said “one of the greatest empowering features of social media is that there is no cost to participate.  Social media are a set of tools for building and strengthening your network of relationships.  The first thing you need to do is to make yourself visible out there”.

But how do you start thinking about making yourself visible?  Where do you start?  And how do you actually market yourself?  And what are the ethics of it all?

Simple.  You start with the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) White Paper Social Networking: Learn the Rules of Engagement which you can download for free by clicking here.   ILTA has made a huge contribution to the education efforts in this area.  This white paper is an excellent read because it states simply a methodology for considering social media. 

And we would be remiss if we did not draw your attention to the chapter Leveraging Social Media for High-Impact Marketing  by our colleague Rob Robinson who spells out in a concise “here-is-how-to-do-it-folks” manner the way to maximize the efficacy of social media tools and reach “the last three feet” — turning the social contact opportunity into business.  For a direct link to that chapter via JDSupra click here.

We will return to the subject of social media and how it can help all Posse List members, but after our coverage of LegalTech.  We’ll have links to more articles, upcoming webinars and “live” seminars, plus more.