10 lessons law firms can learn about Twitter from Newark Mayor Cory Booker

Newark Mayor Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) joined Twitter in 2008 and by tweeting more than 5,000 times has gained more than a million followers.

Law firms could do a lot worse than following Booker’s use of Twitter for breaking down communication barriers, building trust, and establishing relationships.

Eva Kaplan-Leiserson, a freelance writer and Staff Writer at National Society of Professional Engineers, has a great piece at The Faster Times this morning entitled ‘10 Twitter Lessons From Newark Mayor Cory Booker.’

By highlighting Mayor Booker’s use of Twitter during the December Blizzard Kaplan-Leiserson draws ten lessons we can all use when it comes to Twitter. Me included. Read her whole article, here’s a ‘liberal abbreviation’ of the ten lessons.

1. Do more than just push information. If that’s all your tweets offer, you might as well just have an anonymous Website. As this Time article on Booker explains, other city mayors either don’t tweet, or their tweeting during the blizzard consisted only of impersonal info.
2. Respond to people. Don’t use Twitter like television; use it like instant messaging. The advantage of the tool is its interactivity. A good number of Booker’s blizzard-related tweets are responses to others who have tweeted to him or retweets (like forwarding an email) of what others have said to him. This helps demonstrate that he’s really behind the account rather than a PR person or intern, and helps to garner trust.
3. Include personal info and voice. Even if you are using the tool professionally (where I think Twitter is strongest), including personal info and writing in your own personal “voice” can help people connect to you.
4. Use humor. This can also draw people in, when used judiciously. In response to @News12NJDesk asking “How much sleep did you get?,” Booker responded, “’Sleep’ left me for ‘Storm’. So I’ve turned my affections to ‘Coffee’ she is hot and loyal.”
5. Provide value. While Twitter can be a great marketing tool, the majority of your tweets shouldn’t be about yourself or your activities or people will quickly find something else to read. You need to give them a reason to return. Most of Booker’s tweets are not about himself but instead offer readers information, inspiring quotes, a response, or something else useful.
6. Listen. Booker used Twitter to crowdsource where plows and other help were needed–in other words, he used it as a way to gather the knowledge of a lot of people in a short amount of time. Another important way to listen is to set up search terms on your or your company’s name to hear what people are saying.
7. Keep it positive. Don’t forget that Twitter, like other parts of the Internet, has a memory like an elephant. Whatever you post will be part of the public record for, basically, infinity.
8. Know that responding can turn the tide. Often people want to be heard. If someone tweets something negative about you or your company, hearing them and responding in a positive manner, while doing your utmost to fix the issue, can often turn a negative tweet into a positive interaction.
9. Share the good. If someone says something good about you, don’t be afraid to spread it. Booker retweeted the words of praise others tweeted to him in responding to them, so others could view the positive feedback. Just do this in moderation.
10. Follow people. Others have value to offer too. Booker knows that (unlike some other big names on Twitter who don’t follow anyone). In addition to having more than a million followers, Booker himself follows the tweets of more than 49,000 others. How can he possibly keep up with all those tweets? I’m guessing he uses lists to filter them.

Seattle Mayor Mike Mayor McGinn (@mayormcginn) showed us just not how to use Twitter during Seattle’s pre-Thanksgiving snow storm.

While tens of thousands of people were stranded on icy highways or at their offices following a half inch of snow McGinn tweeted a few cold and impersonal items, often linking to government statements, that the Seattle Department of Transportation was working through the evening.

There was no evidence of McGinn’s personal involvement or care for the people who relied on his assurances that Seattle would be prepared for any winter storms this year.

Lawyers and law firms are fast to shun Twitter as an impersonal communication tool that their typical clients don’t use. But as Kaplan-Leiserson explains ‘technology, like Twitter, can help bring us together.’

If there was any profession that could use a little connecting with average folks, it’s the legal profession. Follow Mayor Booker’s lessons on Twitter and you’ll be surprised at the communication barriers you’ll break down, the relationships you’ll build, and the trust you’ll establish.