But with the growing use of Twitter by those active in social networking and social media, monitoring the blogosphere alone is not enough. You need to monitor what people are 'micro-blogging' at Twitter. A lot can be said about you - good and bad - in 140 characters of text broadcast to hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of a person's followers on Twitter.

I subscribe to an RSS feed of keywords and key phrases mentioned on Twitter via Summize.

Summize is a search engine for Twitter that, like Google Blog Search for blogs, allows you to subscribe to searches. You don't browse searches ala a standard Google Search, you subscribe to an RSS feed of your search so as to read updates in your RSS newsreader.

Take a look at how I followed feedback on Twitter to LexBlog's launch of LexMonitor last Friday. This represents the most recent 'tweets' from today (Sunday). I noted how recent those 'tweets' were with arrows on the left.

As you'll see, it's a 3 step process. 1) Key in the word or phrase you want to follow; 2) Click search; and 3) Click the RSS feed button to add the ongoing search results to your RSS newsreader.

Two other tools people use to monitor Twitter conversation are Quotably (powered by Summize displaying threads of 'tweets') and Tweetscan.

Becky McCray, an Oklahoma small town entrepreneur with a liquor store and small cattle ranch, believes small town professionals have the most to gain from making new connections via social media. Guest blogging at Chris Brogan's community and social media blog, Becky offers some tips in her 'Social Media Starter Moves for Small Town Small Businesses.'

From Becky, here's 5 ways you can use social media with my accompanying commentary.

• Twitter to make connections. Twitter can be an enormous time sink if you treat it that way. If you treat it as a way to meet people, to expand your horizons, to learn from others, and to feel connected, you can make it a useful tool for your business. Start by adding a handful of people, and let your network grow organically. Check Twitter Packs for more people in your industry or in your state. Share cool discoveries, information, and just connect on a human level. Twitter does not require constant attention, check in a few times a day.
• Blog to position yourself as an expert. Part of what makes a small town special is the sense of community, and that’s what blogging does at its best. Find the blogs already talking about your field, and start reading and commenting. Follow and comment on blogs that reach people in your community even if the blog does not relate to the law. Then start your own blog, telling stories and sharing information helpful to community members.
• Facebook to reach the community. Even in Becky's home town of 5000 people, there is a healthy group of Facebook users. She just got an invitation to join the community summer band, via Facebook. She's also seeing small town people using Facebook as a tool to remain connected even as they spread out around the country. By staying active yourself, you can make and keep connections based on this natural geographic affinity.
• Local community websites. In your town, you might find people online at the local newspaper site, an independent community forum, or even on a local business’s website. The disadvantage? These are usually hotbeds of local politics. Use caution.
• Experiment to learn.Use Flickr to connect with your local photo enthusiasts. Sign up with Utterz to give on-the-spot reports. Use Operator11, Ustream or Blog TV to share meetings, trainings, or build a networking group across distance. Your goal is not to be on every single network out there. Your goal is to try the tools that could work for your business, or even for your clients, and learn them. Drop the ones that don’t help you. And remember that it’s not all about getting business, it’s also about connection, learning and thinking.

I grew up and practiced law for 17 years in a small town in rural Wisconsin. Connections with people was what it was all about. Getting to know people and talking with others was a way of life. We didn't do it because we felt the pressure to market our services, it was the natural and polite thing to do.

With the advent of online social media and social networking, remember at its heart, connecting with people remains the same. Enjoy communicating with people, getting to know them, and sharing your mutual interests.

Online tools such as Twitter and blogs may seem awkward at first. That's okay. But they're just communication tools. With a little use and trial and error, they'll soon feel as natural as saying 'hey' or tipping your hat to others as you pass them on the sidewalk.

Amazingly, we even found our own post on the earthquake mentioned in Mark's piece: the brief observations Kevin blogged about last night (and shortly thereafter put up on Twitter) had by this morning been picked up by an internationally renowned news source and cited as yet another angle of the story.

But did word of the quake actually break on Twitter, before the major news media were able to pick up on it? Malcolm Moore at The Telegraph seems to think so (despite being from a professional news source, he doesn't hesitate to give Twitter credit for its role in the disaster response). Malcolm's story also echoes the sentiments of many in the blogosphere this morning, and notes the unexpected significance of this seemingly simple tool in a time of widespread confusion and panic:

The news of the Sichuan earthquake apparently broke first on Twitter.com, a website whose users constantly update the world on what is happening around them.

Links to maps showing the epicentre of the quake were posted alongside accounts of shaking buildings and evacuated offices from Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing.

"Breathing normal again, feeling an earthquake on the 31st floor was not fun," wrote Ana from Shanghai.

Ana's Twitter page, like so many others, continues to provide her take on the earthquake and micro-conversations with other users. It seems likely that in any Chinese city where there's an Internet connection this evening, someone's tapped in and sharing their perspectives with listeners around the world.

To some, it may seem downright absurd: web users armed with nothing more than their eyes, ears and 140 characters of empty space. But that's exactly what happened this morning...and it seems likely that next time a newsworthy world event strikes, all eyes will be on Twitter.

Robert Scoble, who presumably picked up word of the Earthquake via Twitter, shared the news with those of us following him on Twitter.

When I couldn't find any news of the earthquake at CNN or Google News, I went to Tweetscan, which allows you to monitor Twitter discussion by keyword. Sure enough, plenty of news on the earthquake. Including from people in China.

And look who's 'Tweeting' news of the earthquake in addition to 'citizen tweeters,' the New York Times and Reuters. Amazing.

Discussion on Twitter now is that the mainstream media may have first picked up word of the earthquake from Twitter before their traditional sources.

What we're seeing in action is a breaking news world wide backbone that can disseminate news faster than anything main stream media can match. All with a crazy tool that asks 'What are you doing now?'

Update on how news breaks:

In order to follow more Twitter feeds, people are also monitoring the word 'earthquake' at summize and quotably.

People at Twitter are now telling people who felt the quake to report it here.

...[I]f a lawyer spends substantial time each day blogging, and updating Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and any other networks to which they belong (Pulse anyone???), what about life outside work? At some point, it seems to me, there isn't enough time in the day to participate regularly on EVERY site, and still maintain a healthy work life balance.

Other lawyers do regularly tell me that these goofy social networking tools you're talking about are great for you, but I'm a practicing lawyer and I simply don't have the time.

And I'm sure it seems that those of us referencing and using Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the like must be spending a lot of time on these mediums. That's not necessarily so.

In one case, you use them for news - so you go there when you have the time for catching up with what's going on just like you would browse a local newspaper. Here the news and information is coming from trusted friends. They're sharing links and quick snippets of news and information. And like a newspaper, you don't read every story, you glance and browse when you have a few minutes.

In another case, you use social networking tools for networking. Duh. And like networking in real life, you do it when you have the time. And knowing that it's networking that leads to some of your best work, you work networking into your schedule. Otherwise your family goes hungry.

It's 4:30 p.m. on a Friday here on the West Coast and I haven't used any social networking tools or sites today except for leaving a comment on Josh's blog just now, posting a correction to my blog early this am, and writing this post.

So though I am a 'user' of these mediums that some may call mad and all time consuming, they do not absorb all my time. I was involved in meetings with my CFO, VP of Client Development, and Creative Director until 2 or 3 today and then working on client development matters after that.

Having said that, the seeds I planted yesterday via Twitter and LinkedIn are bearing fruit today. Took me 20 or 30 minutes yesterday to publish a blog post with links to a powerpoint and webcast of a recent webinar I did. Then shared the post with folks on Twitter.

Between people getting my RSS feeds and people following me on Twitter, I've seen mention of that powerpoint and webinar all over the place today - blogs, other folks mentioning it on Twitter, and in copies of emails my readers sent to their business associates telling them about the powerpoint and screencast. Also received some nice emails thanking me for sharing the materials.

I also spent 15 minutes on LinkedIn yesterday inviting people I had the occasion to meet via the net recently to join my my professional network at LinkedIn. I received notice today that a number of those folks accepted my invite as well as one or two thank you notes for my asking them to hook up on LinkedIn.

Bottom line is social networking tools can be used effectively without them becoming all time consuming. And like Josh guesses, 'one has to try different services and then see over time which network pays the biggest dividends, and then focus on that one.'

Now, just don't ask my wife and five kids if I spend too much time on the net. ;)

This micro blogging tool with posts or 'tweets' limited to 140 characters, which I was afraid to admit in public that I used, is generating some discussion among legal marketing professionals.

First, Twitter broke into a legal marketing listserv discussion last week. 'What is it? Does anyone see any value to using it?' Then today, legal Internet marketing expert, Steve Matthews, comes out with an excellent intro to Twitter for lawyer marketing, including 7 steps for test driving Twitter.

Don't expect Twitter to take the legal industry by storm yet, but take note of what Steve says you ought to now.

...Politicians in the current US election are levering it, news outlets like CNN & Canada's CBC are offering headlines that can be mixed into your reading stream, and companies like Southwest airlines are using it to interact with customers & take feedback.

It's widely considered the fastest growing tool of web influence, and will at some point have a trickle down effect for the legal industry.

And though this may sound absolutely insane, LexBlog may pick up some very good work through Twitter - with larger law firms. And until a month or two ago, I thought Twitter was just a distraction. Let me share 4 stories.

1. Working one night last week I was 'tweeting' about the Mariners game while I was listening to it on MLB.com. A lawyer in DC who owns a piece of a minor league team, who had been following me on Twitter, replied back with a direct message about baseball first, which then led to his request to discuss doing some blogs for a number of lawyers back there.
2. I 'm regularly exchanging comments via Twitter with a person in IT & Business Development in a top 5 law firm. Very good chance of leading to work with that firm.
3. A week ago Sunday Robert Scoble, one of most widely followed bloggers in the world, 'tweeted' to his 21,000 followers on Twitter that he liked following my blog and following me on Twitter. Robert said he liked what I wrote and said and that I was a smart guy (take that for what it's worth). Anyhow, it brought a huge immediate increase in people following me on Twitter. Where that goes I don't know, but a lot more people are following me on Twitter, including some reporters and lawyers.
4. I expanded my relationship with high profile PR person via Twitter which led to a speaking engagement at a major national blogging and new media conference.

Interesting thing about Twitter, and I don't think most lawyers or firms are ready to use it, is that the people who may follow you are heavy influencers of others. They are people who blog and otherwise virally spread what they hear. If you are providing incite on a niche through Twitter, word can be spread very rapidly.

You can benefit from Twitter in three ways, that I see today. First, a way to socially network with people, some of which networking may lead to work, speaking engagements, and the like. Two, a means to amplify your message, i.e., spreading what you what you may be blogging, writing, or speaking on. Three, if you blog, you are going to get news from other bloggers whose content you may want to reference in your blog or work.

By the way, if you are going to experiment with Twitter, use an application such as Twhirl. It makes things much easier to understand and follow than using the Twitter home page alone. And if using Twitter on a mobile device there is m.twitter.com.

Related posts:

• Twitter in plain English video
• How to use Twitter
• Using Twitter to promote your blog
• Twitter madness & the Scoble effect
  

I'm thinking someone wrote a script that's causing 'spam followers,' if you will. I'm getting ready to set up a filter in my mail app to send all emails saying someone was following me on Twitter into spam. I was just thinking the last week that Twitter is a cool tool that I'm figuring out how to use. Then this.

So I 'tweet' that 'I am getting hit by 'spam followers,' has anyone had that happen to them?" Saad Kamai replied that 'Somebody recommended you in Twitter, so i guess its natural to get a couple of new 'followers.'

Couple new followers? More than that. And who has that type of draw? That type of influence to recommend an unknown (I am one) and get folks to start following what you are saying?

Then the answer from Phil Ferris in West Cornwall, UK: "Scoble recommended you a few minutes ago in a Tweet. I call it the Scoble Effect."

Quick look back in Twirl, my Twitter application, and sure enough.

Scobleizer: I love reading @kevinokeefe who today linked to a thing about lawbloggers doing journalism. He's a lawyer and a blogger and smart too.

Robert apparently picked up via a tweet of mine that I had posted about lawyers and investigative journalism.

Wow Robert. I'm honored. Seriously. But you'll need to give folks a warning of what's coming - when you're ready to Scobleize them.

Like Jerry Yang when he called Jeff Bezos 12 years ago and said Yahoo was going to name Amazon the 'site of the day.' Bezos thought sure and couldn't figure out why Wang was asking. But Yang wanted to warn him of what's to come. Bezos had bells on each employees computers (a few only) that rang with each book purchase. Guess the next day when Yahoo did the site of the day the bells rang all day.

Good thing I have the bell notifying me of new emails on mail app turned off. Otherwise the folks in this sleepy little coffee shop would, like me, wonder what the heck's going on.

Let there be no question as to the influence one person can have on others through blogging and social networking.

Seeing them all trying to figure out what Twitter is, I thought Common Craft must have kicked out a Twitter in plain english. Sure enough.

• Ask a question. Instead of telling your Twitter audience that you've published a new post, ask them their opinion on the core topic you covered in a blog post. Asking a question engages your Twitter followers and solicits their experience.
• When comments ensue on one your blog posts send a note to Twitter alerting people to the quality of the conversation in the comments. It's not pitchy in nature. You're simply sharing that the best stuff came after the initial post.
• Even dare to ask for a Stumble. You can get a lot of referrers to your blog from StumbleUpon. If you think your post is 'somewhat momentous,' ask your followers if they think it's worth a Stumble. If you do a lot of sharing and promoting and helping others, you may get people to Stumble something for you.

For the unknowing, Twitter is Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (or "tweets"; text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service (e.g. on a cell phone), instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page at Twitter and instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.

...[N]o matter what business you think you're in - be it making widgets or providing a service, you're now in the media business, plain and simple. Those that recognize this shift will succeed, those that ignore it will atrophy and eventually become irrelevant.

Now, what do I mean by the media business? Well, let's start where all good businesses start: with the customer. Your customer's media habits have changed dramatically in the past ten years. More likely than not, your customers spend nearly 15 hours a week online - it's where they play, communicate, interact with services, and shop and research major purchases. In short, your customer has developed a major new media habit. The question is: Has your business?

Dam few law firms have recognized the shift. Millions of dollars each are spent in offline marketing and networking by hundreds of large law firms in this country. What money is being spent online is spent on websites, which are as much about online media as a hard copy brochure.

To remain relevant, law firms will need to have their lawyers blog so as to syndicate their content not only to the RSS readers of clients, prospective clients, and amplifiers of their intellectual capital, but also to the likes of Forbes, Bloomberg, and other major media players who are running syndicated blog content. The number of places to syndicate law content to is only going to explode in the coming years. And we're not even discussing audio and video yet.

To remain relevant lawyers will need to network with other media players, whether they be bloggers, reporters, editors, publishers, or producers. And that networking is going to need to be done via blogging and social networking sites ala LinkedIn and mediums ala Twitter.

Scary to those law firm heads and quality and assurance committees who don't understand this innovation? Yes. But letting the unknowing guide your future is going to lead to irrelevance.

Caroline Middlebrook has posted a 'Big Juicy Twitter Guide.'

Among other things, the guide covers:

• What is Twitter and why you should use Twitter?
• Socializing with Twitter
• Using Twitter properly
• Using Twitter for marketing
• Twitter tools
• Multiplying your Twitter audience

Source for post: Shel Holtz

I viewed it as a 'my cat just rolled over, isn't that cool' thing that would never be used by lawyers, at least in any effective way. I registered at Twitter, received messages saying someone was 'following me at Twitter,' but never did anything with Twitter - especially to even think of following someone else. People who know me know the last thing I need is another thing that will easily distract me. Twitter looked like attention deficit disorder on steroids.

But Internet legal marketing expert, Steve Matthews, mentioned Twitter being of value in his presentation at the Pacific Legal Technology Conference this week. Then Shel Israel, another person I have a lot of respect for, acknowledged this morning that after a month he loves Twitter.

I am probably using it more than Facebook these days. While Facebook has been a remarkably enjoyable tool for business, Twitter's concrete benefits remain less clear to me......

But Twitter seems to be the most intimate of social media--and the most social. I personally know most of the people I follow, and I know a good deal about the people I have not yet met face-to-face. I get to know about their lives. I watch the dynamics of my social network as it bops around the tangible world. It helps us stay current and close.

I'm a regular user of web tools that I originally thought worthless (IM is just one). I may give Twitter a try If nothing more than to respond to client questions about Twitter. But if Shel is right that I can follow people in my network and get to know them better through Twitter and possibly share ideas we're working on, there could be real value.