Be-Tweet life and death: utilizing social media while avoiding legal malpractice.

• Author: Navarrete, Bonie Montalvo
• Position: Young Lawyers Division

In the last 15 years, advanced technology has enabled people to interact and share information in ways that were previously nonexistent or widely unavailable. (1) This technological expansion has led to an explosion of social media use all across the world. In the U.S., not only are 84 percent of all adults "digital," meaning they have a smartphone, tablet, or computer, but social media is now the top worldwide Internet activity. (2) Lawyers, like everyone else, are not immune to this technological expansion. In 2014, the American Bar Association found that 75 percent of lawyers reported using social media for career development and networking. (3) While it is true that a majority of lawyers are engaging in social media, many of them are either engaging social media inefficiently or reluctantly. (4) Due to its omnipresence and prominence, lawyers can no longer afford the luxury of turning a blind eye to social media. As such, all lawyers should take steps to educate themselves on the impacts, advantages, and repercussions associated with it.

Background: What is Social Media?

Social media is defined as a series of websites and applications (platforms) that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. (5) The "big three" of social media are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. In 2014, Facebook reported 1.39 billion monthly active users; (6) Twitter reported 288 million monthly active users with 500 million tweets (7) being sent per day; (8) and LinkedIn reported 300 million users. (9) These are astounding numbers, and they send one powerful message: Social media is strong and it is here to stay, for it transcends age, gender, race, religion, politics, and economics.

Blawgs

Social media is user-centered and it has platforms for every taste. For lawyers who enjoy writing, blawgs (10) presents a great entryway to the social media game. Blawgs are among the most established platforms within the legal community--the ABA even has a blawg directory with its very own 100 Hall of Fame. (11) A lawyer can use blawgs to educate clients, peers, and possibly gain prospective clients. We live in a world where individuals utilize search engines to identify their ailments on WebMD (12) and where they will conduct their own online research prior to seeking professional legal help. An effective blawg that showcases the lawyer's expertise is not only seen by other lawyers and prospective employers, but it is also seen by potential clients--who may even solicit the lawyer's business after reading his or her blawg. In order to make the most out of blawgs, lawyers should use relevant tags in their postings in order to bring their blawgs to the top--blawgs with the most efficient tags and titles will be part of the top results of search engines. When choosing the content of their blawgs, lawyers should be mindful that while blawgs are sometimes perceived as "informal" writing, they still face the same legal and ethical concerns as print marketing and advertising. (13)

Twitter

For lawyers who prefer short and precise statements, there is Twitter --where each posting or tweet has a 140-character limit. Many lawyers are apprehensive about Twitter because they believe that Twitter is limited to frivolous information--no lawyer really wants to know what their fellow colleague had for breakfast. Nevertheless, Twitter offers much more for it can keep lawyers aware of relevant information and it can also connect them to other lawyers, academics, experts, businesses, organizations, and individuals who share their same interests. The opportunities for interaction in Twitter are endless, and lawyers have plenty to choose from. With Twitter, lawyers have the opportunity to interact with the Internal Revenue Service (@IRSnews), the U.S. Supreme Court (@USSupremeCourt), and The Florida Bar (@theflabar).

Lawyers who have dominated the Twitter-sphere usually have a large number of Twitter followers and are often perceived as trusted and reliable intelligence agents in their area of law. (14) These lawyers build marketable environments by effectively using Twitter. These lawyers are definitely not tweeting about what they had for breakfast; instead, they are tweeting about the latest conference they attended, the latest article that caught their interest, and the articles that they themselves--or their...