Originally published on July 12, 2011 in our free BigLaw newsletter. Instead of reading BigLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.
The excitement over social media has grown to a fever pitch. LinkedIn recently became a public company, and has absolutely exploded with over 100 million members. Facebook has become ubiquitous as this infographic by Business Insider demonstrates, and will likely become a public company next year.
But when Apple announced which platform it had chosen to integrate into its iOS 5 mobile operating system it bypaseed both Facebook and LinkedIn, going instead with Twitter. So what is it about Twitter? Why would a service that losers use to narrate their mundane lives be deemed so important that the world's most valuable company would permit it to reside at the heart of its crown jewel? Let's take a closer look.
Twitter Is Public
Have you ever attended a cocktail party and noticed that you picked the wrong group with whom to chat? You look over your shoulder and see another group laughing and having much more fun. What would it be like if you could run a simple search to find out who was talking about something interesting, and then join that conversation? That's one of the primary benefits of Twitter — anybody can listen in on conversations of interest. You're not trapped by your "friends."
But aren't most tweets boring, self-centered and mundane? Many of them are, but so are most of the conversations at cocktail parties, the difference being that on Twitter you have more choices. It isn't like Facebook where you have to be friends or pseudo-friends to have a conversation. It isn't like LinkedIn where you need to provide details on past work relationships before you can eavesdrop. Twitter is public, meaning anybody can listen in on any conversation. Better yet, developers can build applications on top of Twitter to better organize that information for law firms and other constituencies.
It's kind of ironic that Apple, which has a closed and formal process for creating iPhone apps and having them approved, has embraced Twitter, which has a decidedly different philosophy. Twitter's openess provides incentive for serendipity and entrepreneurship as it invites people to play with its data. It worked out for the developers of TweetDeck, which created a better way of organizing the Twitter stream. As a result, this gang of 14 employees just sold its business to Twitter for $40 million dollars. Twitter and its community of users are better off because of this openness.
Twitter Is About Sharing Content
Why does all this openness matter to lawyers? There are two ways to add value and gain credibility online. The first is to find and share valuable content. I call these people "collectors." Anybody can be a collector. The second group are those who actually create valuable content in form of articles, podcasts, white papers, videos, etc. The vast majority of social media users are incapable of creating truly helpful content. Lawyers on the other hand have the unique ability to communicate. Thus, Twitter is of great benefit to lawyers willing to create content and let everyone know it exists.
You could argue that Twitter isn't a social network at all. The majority of the tweets shared are links to content on other Web sites. The lame or boring information gets ignored while the truly exceptional information gets passed on — retweeted. Twitter is an information exchange. Those who understand it take information and put it in front of thought leaders and influencers who can further amplify it in ways you can't imagine. Your information!
Can't you just share information by email? Yes but there's less chance of it "going viral" unless you're a bona-fide email publisher like TechnoLawyer. With Twitter, there are no degrees of separation so your information can be passed directly to individuals you may have never met. If your content is very good, Twitter can become a powerful ally in getting your message out.
Why does sharing matter? Many law firms have this part all wrong. They think of sharing on Twitter as a way for them to publish. Just another way to talk about themselves. That's just one facet. The true value of Twitter lies in its ability to help lawyers research and find great information that they can either share via email with their high value contacts or write about on their blog or Web site. Sharing means you can find information online quickly, and then use it to demonstrate your expertise.
Twitter's Learning Curve Requires Commitment
After reading this issue of BigLaw, you may think — "Time to jump on Twitter!" A word of warning. Twitter is not easy to learn. It's easy to sign up. It's easy to send a single tweet, but it is not easy to get going beyond that. As a result, Twitter suffers from a phenomenon in which people join Twitter, send their first tweet, sign off, and never try it again. To get over this hump you need to spend time every day for a couple of weeks to get the hang of it. It is a powerful tool, it's worth spending a few hours to get there.
The marriage between Apple (with about 200 million iOS devices sold) and Twitter (with about 20 million active accounts) makes sense for both sides, but more importantly it assures the longevity of Twitter. If you were waiting for the smoke to clear to decide whether or not Twitter was worth figuring out, the time has come. Get over your issues with tweets, retweets, tweet-ups, and all the other silly words associated with Twitter and give it a chance. Apple has spoken.
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