Social is not a destination
Social is not a destination. This from Internet veteran, Tristan Louis (@TNLNYC), in an article at Forbes.
Rather than looking at your activity as being on this or that social network, focus on your social activity and the people you’re engaging as a whole.
To understand the difference between the two, one must go back in time and look at an era before Facebook or even before Google’s existence. Social networks have existed for almost as long as humanity has but over the last few years, large players have tried to narrowly define social networks as centralized destinations where people gather. Whether it is sixdegrees.com (the first internet based social netw0rk, dating back to the 1990s), mySpace, Orkut (Google’s early foray into the space), Facebook, or Twitter, much of what has been thought about as social networks has been about the place where people gathered, rather than the people who gathered there. If one were to draw an analogy to how social networks existed before the internet, the current accepted definition of a social network would be a building, because that’s where people go to meet. When looked at it through that lens, the premise start falling apart. Why would WHERE people gather matter more than HOW people are connected?
Louis was making the point that Google+, more than Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks, travels with you as you socialize online. Mail, YouTube, Hangouts, Maps, Reviews, and more, all in addition to its centralized location.
Leave Google+ aside, lawyers would be well served to look at social as more than a destination. It’s who you are getting to know, who you’re building relationships with, and who’s getting to know you as a trusted authority.
Which social network you’re participating in doesn’t matter. Go where the people are you wish to network with. Who’s your target audience? Who are the thought leaders in your niche or locale?
The people you wish to engage will likely be on multiple networks. To be effective in your networking you’ll need to use multiple social networks. That’s okay. Off the Internet we belong to different clubs, are members of multiple associations, sit on various civic boards, and go to parties at different locations.
Focus on social, not the destination. That way you will focus on strategy, who you’re engaging, rather than tactics, which social network to use.