Networking through Internet still in infancy

Reid Hoffman (@quixotic), co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn as well as an early investor in Facebook, told CBS News this week that networking through the Internet remains very young.

You have Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. I think that the notion of a social web is actually still at its very beginning stages, and the notion of how we form these human ecosystems, these societies together, I think we’ve just begun to see the interesting apps by which people either navigate sharing with their friends or managing careers. And I think there’s decades of innovation left.

I’m in complete agreement. The notion that we’re on social media overload and that social media and social networking has peaked is fool hardy.

As attorneys, we’ve networked for decades (perhaps hundreds of years) in order to build relationships and enhance our reputations.

It’s only been the last few years that applications the likes of LinkedIn and Facebook have been developed allowing attorneys to network through the Internet. Blogging and Twitter also powerful networking tools, are less than 10 years old.

Attorneys, law firms, and other professionals, by and large, have not adopted the Internet as means of networking. It’s only a select few who have recognized the opportunity of networking through the Internet.

In the decades to come, we’re going see attorneys and other professionals begin to network through the Internet in droves. Entrepreneurs are going to enhance existing Internet networking solutions and develop new ones to serve the growing demand.

For those of you who believe you’re a luddite and that the world has passed you by, don’t worry for a second more. We’re just getting started. Those of you who begin to network through the Internet now will be years ahead of your competitors who fail to adapt.

It’s an exciting time to be an attorney who has left the practice to develop solutions empowering attorneys to network through the net.