Can Linkedin Company Profiles be Effective?? September 14, 2010
Posted by travisthetrout in Linkedin.3 comments
We recently got an email circulated around work about the use of Linkedin. This contained the announcement that our firm is embracing social media.
Our firm’s page (one of several apparently) like most company profiles simply states our “stats” and a few employees have joined. The head of marketing wrote a whole piece about how we are going to use linkedin to get clients, trainees etc. In my mind these were empty words and wishful thinking. No proper strategy was circulated to the employees – we were simply told if you are on linkedin this is our company page. The email drew the page to our attention so they did get a couple more people to sign up.
In my office there are less than 100 people on Linkedin, surprisingly a lot of these members are on my team of 30ish. But the set up of the firm as a whole is not well represented. With such a large firm and multiple offices, I don’t really understand what the marketing team hope to achieve. (Maybe as I have newly entered the workplace and don’t yet have the connections to have a properly useful linkedin experience I don’t see the full benefit.) But I’ve always thought of linkedin as being more useful on a personal basis, and it is more about each individual’s efforts and connections, and the use of a company profile is somewhat limited. We do not use the custom company profile (and I don’t know if this is of any use).
To attract clients, we need to be offering a service. An extra service. A personal service. Not simply citing we have X offices and are highly recommended for XY and Z. Everyone already knows that from legal websites/publications. On a daily basis my supervising partner has proper interaction with current and prospective clients, long phone calls and face-to-face meetings as necessary – assisted by people like me who can be on hand to answer everything a client might need to know at anytime. Chatty, friendly but professional. This works. In comparison our current approach with social media is severely lacking. It needs to equal our traditional client service.
As for attracting trainees that is a completely different matter.
We attract trainees the same way any big firm does – our reputation, links with local law schools, law fairs and a good website. We don’t (yet) use social media. Is linkedin an answer? I don’t think linkedin will do anything extra to raise awareness of our firm (unlike twitter, or blogging) nor do I think it will improve the quality of trainees applying (they are already mostly first class degree/oxbridge students). It will not be a case of finding trainees on linkedin who will walk into the job based on their Linkedin Profile (not when current employees cannot be recommended for trainee positions (a long standing complaint)). and the larger Law firms are not in the business of head-hunting trainees. yet. (Although in some firms they are recommended). Besides if you are good – you don’t necessarily need social media to be known. Even as a paralegal, other firms (that I had no direct contact with in my job) had heard I was good at my job (a surreal experience) and told me this when turned up for an interview.
From a personal point of a view I would think the firm would benefit more from utilising a twitter account or blog. To draw attention to the firm in a positive way. Obviously there is more effort required with a blog or twitter (and more issues about what can be posted and by who etc). But I think even the bigger firms could make it work for them.
I’ve previously discussed facebook pages which are obviously more focused at recruiting trainees (my firm does not have one). But is this idea really any better?
[LPC] Teaching with twitter – any use on the LPC? April 21, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Legal Practice Course (LPC), Twitter.2 comments
I read (and commented) earlier in the month on an article about a class where discussion was encouraged in class using twitter (Chronicle).This involved much of the discussion in class being via twitter and appearing on the projector screen.
On the LPC, we discuss things heavily – both as a group and in sub-groups working on tasks.This also includes the more practical things like conducting a negotiation. Would this work on a platform like twitter? Probably not.
On the LLB we had an couple of Internet law classes – we all brought our laptops to class and engaged in some online interaction (it was in fact that very class that got me signed up to twitter in the first place). We set up a class blog and class wiki, hoping for class participation – but it never took off. I think a total of 3 people in addition to our tutor commented, and then gave up, highlighting the need for people to get involved for something like this to work.
I can obviously understand the use of twitter in an undergrad class – keeps your students interested – and dare I say it, everyone is likely to be passing notes or on the internet anyway. But on the LPC, we’re back to good old fashioned paper (compared to LLB) and no one uses laptops. However people do tend to “show off” more on the LPC, so maybe that could be used to our advantage. People would be more willing to participate.
But before disregarding a tool like twitter, just because of lack of discussion or it merely being another distraction – you’ve got to consider the benefits:
Firstly, it would be a breath of fresh air in a three hour class.
Secondly, the advantage it has for the hearing impaired, like me. To see the discussion in writing would be a god-send – it would be like the SUBTITLES of life. My studies would be considerably easier, not to mention there would be a record of what was said (whether it was right or wrong) – no furiously scribbling notes, only to realise it’s end up more like a fill-in-the-blanks and you’ve missed the conclusion.
and finally, the potential to engage in a full discussion. Whether its because some people don’t like contributing, or someone won’t let anyone else get a word in – twitter, potentially, could allow everyone to participate and say what they think (having thought about their comment first) – there are always those interesting comments that never get heard; people are smarter than you think sometimes and people surprise you – I would like to hear that different stuff every once in a while.
[Twitter] Copyrightable, infringement or simply a publishing opportunity? April 7, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Twitter.add a comment
I’m not going to agonise over the legal issues, I leave that to the real lawyers, but just jotting down a few thoughts on the matter.
Twitter as a publishing mechanism similar to blogging has opened up a range of possibilities. Old things done in new ways, from fan-fiction to how to’s, news reporting to the daily diary, the possibilities can be perceived as endless.
As always, this raises issue of copyright. The question “Are Tweets copyrightable?” has provoked debate by many (such as The Legal Satyricon and Tech Dirt), in particular what appears to be the original source of debate Blog Maverick. My opinion? its all down to originality (don’t you just love buzzwords), but hey, it really depends on circumstances, and no doubt will one day open up fierce debate.
If we debate whether there is copyright in tweets, we obviously need to consider the other side of the coin: is there copyright infringement in tweets? Some people just tweet other people’s stuff (such as TwitterLitUK which tweets the first lines of books). or promote/link to such things. usually without permission. However, given that its only 140 characters… I figure it would be hard to prove infringement and there is a strong fair use argument (compared to say regular blogging). Being British I would say surely no one would seriously take action… but with the cases that come out of the states, you never know.
Of course there are those that are producing their own stuff. Original in their own right. As it can be seen people are using twitter a way to get published, offline as well as online. Examples of this are blogged about at FiledBy Author: Twit Lit. Such “Lit” includes 2 years of tweets in a tweetbook and short stories comprised of tweets. interesting concept – from what I have read, there is a certain novel entertainment value. Maybe I’ll try writing a book this way. Of course, books resulting from blogs have been happening for a while now (most recently it was announced that much read BabyBarista joined the ranks of the outted and to-be published blogger), but given that blogs are more “chunky” this is understandable that blog content would fill a book and generate a plot.
So which is twitter, copyrightable, infringement or a publishing opportunity? All three.
Juror Jonathan March 15, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in In the News, Twitter.add a comment
Only noticed this today, but apparently it’s been getting a lot of media attention (here, here and here). The juror, now known as Juror Jonathan twittered before and after jury duty – the tweets appear to be harmless simply informing friends about his jury duty. The defendants are clearly looking for any excuse to appeal, and clearly have no idea about the internet. I would say typical of America, but I’m sure the same fuss would have been made here. unfortunately.
I am in disbelief at how this has even become an issue. Surely everyone should get that “two angry men” is simply a reference to 12 angry men (which to be honest it the only thing most people know about jury service) and that they were not looking for help on the verdict. The verdict had already been made when he tweeted. (The Verdict is another cracking law movie, well worth a comparison with 12 Angry Men).
What needs to be fixed here, is the lack of understanding of how technology works. The one simple rule approach blogged about by Deliberations, would definitely be a good starting point.
Twitter March 13, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Twitter.add a comment
So this week I’ve had more free time on my hands than usual – first week of the electives, down to 3 days a week – what’s not to love.
This week’s project has ended up being quite a big one – getting myself on Twitter. Now I’ve had an account for a while, my ILaw tutor was very web 2.0 and introduced us all to the concept. A year later, more people are on it, I’ve expanded my blog subscriptions, so yes, twitter is another was to benefit from interesting blog posts.
Signing up is easy, enter some details and away you go: but actually learning how to twitter took a fair bit of reading.
- Master the basics
- Everything twitter blog
- Twitter fan wiki (a pbwiki).
Once you’ve read all about how to use twitter, then its time to find people to follow. With regards to general browsing I found a number of interesting lists to help generate possibilities:
- Valebrity for all the real twittering celebrities
- Twitterholic or the most popular twitterers
- and here and here for the lawyers on twitter.
That should be enough to keep you amused. Of course the most useful resources for finding people to follow are actual friends and contacts as well as the people behind the blogs you regularly read.
