Social media impacts the entire world, so attorneys need to get with it!

• Author: Vogel, Peter S.

The internet created the greatest social change in the history of humans: It eliminated the boundaries of geography and time.

To put things in perspective, Alexander Graham Bell got a patent on the telephone in 1875. No one then could have ever foreseen that I would make a cell phone call from the Great Wall of China in 2005. only five years later, it is not much of a marvel to snap a photo at the Great Wall of China and whisk it around the world to my friends and family in an instant.

Because we are in the middle of this wave of change, many people struggle to figure out the aspects of the internet on which to capitalize. Businesses have accepted much of what the internet brings--specifically Social Media. Without doubt, attorneys must now more fully embrace Social Media. our clients use it and depend on it and they will leave us behind, if we ignore it.

Millions, Billions and Trillions!!!

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The numbers are astonishing: The last estimates state that each day more than 210 billion emails are sent and 50 million tweets on Twitter are posted (twitter.com); and in 2009, 1.5 trillion text messages were sent.

If those millions, billions and trillions do not get your attention, try these numbers from Facebook (www.facebook.com):

* From February 2004 (its inception) to August 2008, the site grew to 100 million users;

* Between August 2008 and August 2009, it expanded from 200 million users to 300 million;

* On its sixth birthday in February 2010, it had more than 400 million users.

* To make things more incredible, it claims that each month more than "25 billion pieces of content are shared (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.)."

Of course, Facebook is directed more toward social, non-business activities. In contrast, LinkedIn is a business network (www.linkedin.com). LinkedIn began in May 2003 and within a month had 4,500 members. By the end of 2003, it had 81,000 members. Current estimates are that more than 65 million members use LinkedIn, and I'd say millions of them are attorneys.

True Confession--I am a Geek

Before I studied law, I was a programmer, received a master's degree in computer science, and taught graduate computer systems courses. The first two years after I finished law school, I was a computer consultant. Then in 1978, I started a solo practice that continued for 14 years until 1992 when I joined Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP in Dallas (www.gardere.com). My law practice has always focused on computer technology and internet services. Over the years, I have handled lawsuits in courts and arbitrations throughout the United States that deal mostly with the following:

* failed software implementations (these days, ERP systems)

* eCommerce

*Special Master in e-Discovery and complex technology matters (because of my strong computer background).

I share this information so you will know my bias about the use of computers and their integration into legal practice and the law. I recognize that I am at one extreme given that my background includes a technical and early adopter perspective. I have been marketing my law practice and helping others market well...