Law blogs remain the one constant among social media
With new forms of social media and social networking coming at us a mile a minute some lawyers and law firms fear that blogging is old school. "Why blog when we now have Twitter, Facebook, Posterous, and Foursquare? Don't we want to be using the newest and coolest?"
Not so fast. Law blogs have stood the test of time, they've remained a constant through all the Web 2.0 hype. A case can even be made that the many forms of social media have accentuated the role blogging plays.
Author and social media expert, Brian Solis, puts it better than I.
With the rise of Twitter, Posterous, Tumblr and other forms of micromedia, many believed that the glass was half empty. Blogging appeared passé as many individuals opted for microblogging, investing in the art of the short form. After all, the blogosphere at one point seemed to succumb to the allure of the statusphere and the effortlessness and trendiness of rapid-fire, micro publishing. But, something was lost in translation over the last few years...context.Today, 100 million Tweets flew across Twitter.
On Facebook this month, the average user created 90 pieces of content and contributed to the more than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) collectively shared each month.
But blogging perseveres - as it should. It is a place where context, thoughtfulness and continuity are rewarded with inbound links, ReTweets, bookmarks, comments and Likes. Blogs are the digital library of our intellect, experience, and vision. Their longevity far outlasts the short-term memory of Twitter or any other micro network. In fact, with Twitter, we are simply competing for the moment. With blogs, we are investing in our digital legacy. (emphasis added)
LexBlog is seeing an increasing desire among lawyers to blog. To blog well. And to blog for purposes of building relationships and further enhancing one's reputation. We're not seeing a decrease in the desire to blog with the rise in social media.
While blogs in other professions, and maybe law blogs on non LexBlog networks are dying off, I'm seeing lawyers on our network continue to publish to their blog. Sure, there's exceptions. But they're exceptions, not the rule
The reason why blogging for lawyers remains a constant for lawyers is at least two fold. One, because lawyers publish as a means of reputation enhancement. We always have, we always will.
Having said we publish, I was a small town lawyer for almost 20 years. I didn't write for the law review in law school. And I didn't write magazine or law journal articles as a lawyer in order to get my name out. Many good lawyers did both.
But blogging's different, it opened the publishing door for me. It was a conversational style of writing. Being myself. Talking with people. Sharing practical insight on things I knew a thing or two about.
Publishing a blog post was more akin to sharing beers with the locals in my hometown pub. I was good at that.
Second, putting your intellect, experience, and vision on display requires more than 140 characters on Twitter or the sharing of a quip and picture on Facebook. It requires a blog.
When Ray Kinsella worried that people wouldn't come to his baseball field carved out of a Iowa cornfield, James Earl Jones reminded him of the one constant.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again.
But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is part of our past, Ray.
It reminds us of all that once was good... ..and it could be again.
Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
Have blogs been the one constant through all the years like baseball? Perhaps that's going to far.
But for lawyers faced with social media left and right, it's safe to say blogs have marked the time.
Blogs are here to stay for lawyers. They are the one constant.
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