A couple of months ago, Neil Rose, editor of The Legal Executive Journal, enquired as to whether there were any ILEX (the Institute of Legal Executive) Members on Twitter...I promptly responded as a proud recent Graduate Member of ILEX. It's Rhys Bevan G.Inst.L.Ex, don't you know ;-).
He asked me to write a short article about why I use Twitter...and, of course, I did. I love writing. I love Twitter. I love the law. It was a perfect opportunity for me...
My efforts paid off and my article has been featured in the February issue of the Legal Executive Journal - hurrah!
I'm developing a keen interest in journalism so it was a proud moment to see my article in print...even if they did call me 'Rhys Evans'!
Anyway, my contribution to the article on Social Networking can be found below. Unfortunately, I cannot post a link to the whole article because it's only available online to ILEX Members.
Twitter. A social networking service used by millions of people worldwide to share their thoughts in 140 characters or less. The idea is simple and its simplicity is probably a large factor in its colossal success. The service is used by celebrities and us common folk alike and it is the only place on earth where one can say “I’m following you” without sounding like a stalker.
With, at the time of writing, 3,300 individual tweets, I can certainly claim to be an avid user of the service. The experiences of days out with friends, trips to the cinema, receiving excessively overpriced parking tickets and the effects of suffering from a hangover are mere fiction until I’ve tweeted about them to my 160-something ‘followers’ – who, I have absolutely no doubt, can’t live without knowing every intricate detail of my personal life and inner-most thoughts.
What’s more, Twitter has provided me with the perfect virtual platform upon which I can stand before an invisible audience and shout and scream about my frustrations and anxieties and pretend that people actually care. This has proved to be almost as good a de-stressing technique as a hot bath before bed!
However, apart from tweeting 140-character anecdotes and occasionally making contact with friends and other ‘followers’ using the service, Twitter can be beneficial both to one’s personal interests and professionally.
Twitter leads the way with real-time news feeds. A vast number of news corporations use the service to deliver breaking news and link their followers to new articles within minutes of the event taking place. If a story hasn’t broken out on Twitter within a few hours, it probably isn’t worth reading.
For the legal profession, Twitter has a number of benefits. Practitioners can ‘follow’ firms, legal journalists and lawyers and keep up to date with the law and read reports and legal opinions. The Guardian Law’s Twitter account (@gdnlaw) provides daily legal updates and often publishes important court judgements.
Used wisely, Twitter can also be a great tool for law firms to reach out to new and varied clientele and make use of the free advertising opportunities.
If you haven’t joined Twitter yet, you’re missing out. Not only does Twitter allow us to unashamedly talk about ourselves as often as we like, it also keeps people informed of breaking news and can increase an individual’s awareness of important issues. Twitter engages people and encourages communication and freedom of speech and for this, I applaud the creators.
Admittedly, I struggle to understand how a service like Twitter survives in the commercial world in its current format as there aren’t many obvious features that I can identify as a reliable revenue stream, unlike Facebook. There are few advertisements and the service is free to use. I just hope that, in a bid to start making profit, the creators don’t change Twitter too much and detract from its simplicity.
How long will Twitter last and is it just another fad? We all remember what happened to MySpace. Provided that the creators stick as closely as possible to the original business model, I believe Twitter has longevity and I will certainly continue to enjoy my daily tweets!
No comments:
Post a Comment