ABA Journal-How to conquer anxiety and break the ice during professional events (podcast with transcript)

Networking as law students and attorneys is a crucial part of keeping oneself in the job market.  It is not only important in finding new job opportunities but also getting your brand out in the market as well.  But does it give you social anxiety thinking about networking at big events? ABA Journal recently published a podcast (with transcript) by business development coach Larry Kohn.  The podcast provides tips for overcoming anxiety when networking at events.  Click here to access the complete podcast and transcript.

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Are You Social Reading?

"The term “social reading” can mean different things depending on its context. Social reading can be the kind of work that happens in a literature class where a group of participants all read the same novel (or short story or poem or play) at roughly the same pace and work together .... It could also mean the kind of reading that happens for book groups ....“social reading” has recently also taken on a technological turn as more and more people embrace e-reading technologies: Kindles, Nooks, iPads and iPhones, ...

"Social Kindling,” [is] Amazon’s practice of sharing your highlighted passages and/or annotations with other users. ... even if you do not decide to share ... reading on a Kindle is inevitably a social experience because the default setting on most of the devices is to have “Popular Highlights” enabled. This feature is not unlike buying a used book that has been highlighted by a previous reader–the difference is that instead of a single reader, your e-book will have highlights from hundreds maybe thousands of other readers." Read more here.

Social Reading.  Try it this summer!

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50 Ways to Market Your Practice

The ABA Journal recently published an interesting article entitled "50 Simple Ways You Can Market Your Practice."  The article was compiled from strategies straight from successful lawyers and consultants who who have focused on a marketing plan to increase their practice.  Some tips include volunteering at various organizations, taking advantage of Google tools, increasing social media and more.  For the full article, click here.

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A Social Media Will: Have you thought about it?

The latest legality to hit social media is your legacy!  The idea of a social media will may seem strange, but it is something that even the US government is writing about.  Here at usa.gov you will find some guidelines for writing a social media will.  Other sites, such as The Atlantic and the Huffington Post, have written about what will happen to a twitter account, Facebook page and other social networking websites, after the account holder passes on.

As The Atlantic notes, "planning for your digital life after your physical life is no longer a strange niche behavior." And while is seems simple, it may not be. "Sounds good, but legally it's tricky territory." Read more about living in the age of social media here.

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Yog - An App Helping You To "Run With Friends"

Now that exams are over and there is time to get outside and jog, where can you find the regular people who have been living their life while you hunched over law books for months? Try the new app Yog. 

"If you're planning to go jogging more as part of your New Year's resolution, you might want to give Yog a try.

Yog, a free iPhone app, helps runners around the world connect with each other and organize jogs with those at their skill level. With the app, users can quickly schedule a run and then invite friends through Facebook or their phone's contact list to go on a virtual run. If the scheduled run is listed publicly, random users on the site can opt to join in as well." From here.

As their website says, "Run With Friends."


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Gather your social media in one place

Operating a website that gathers your social media and gives you a personalized web presence used to be either a complicated or expensive process.  However, there are a few options out there that take the work, and cost, out of making a website your own. 

At About.me, it takes only a few mouse clicks to create a personalized webpage like the one below:

See About.me and more applications that allow you to create an online presence and gather your social media links in one place here. 

And remember, all the standard warnings apply! Be mindful of what you create and say online.  Your future employers are watching~

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

A New Mashable is Launched

Mashable, one of my favorite technology and media sites, announced this week the launch of a newly designed version that promises to be "more social, visual and mobile than ever before."  Some of the featured improvements will be incorporation of articles that are gaining traction or being shared the most on social media services, a "great reading experience" on any type of mobile device or monitor, and high resolution images that can be individually shared to social networks. Read more about the new features in the announcement. Then sign up to try out the beta version here, and give them some feedback.

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Icelanders approve a crowdsourced Constitution

Social media is slowly but surely making its way into every aspect of our lives.  Now, Iceland, who has been soliciting "crowdsourcing" to make changes to its Constitution, has just approved their collaborative approach to the law of the land. 

Crowdsourcing has become a buzzword of sorts lately, to describe the use of a large, inexpensive and temporary workforce to create new content, solve problems and innovate.  This is especially revolutionary in the legal community, where social networking is often looked at askance and with great suspicion.

The Iceland Constitution, the embracing of crowdsourcing, and  the government's willingness make it an official document...it's a bit revolutionary.  The rest of the global legal community, most importantly legislators, letting anyone, trained or untrained in the law, comment and participate in the drafting of legislation seems impossible now, but could be in our future.

Read more about crowdsourcing here at CBS news.

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Facebook Law

For those interested in social media law and those who have social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter, an ongoing issue has been the request by prospective employers for candidates' social media account passwords.

This week California passed a law (ch 618)  prohibiting an employer from asking for a social media account information.  Two other states - Maryland and Illinois - have passed similar laws with respect to employers.   Delaware has a related law prohibiting academic institutions from requesting social media passwords from students or applicants.

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Make your Twitter page POP!

Twitter has launched a new design feature for your Twitter page.  Using the menu, you can add a picture header to your page and create more interest in your twitter feed.  While you can upload any pitcure to your Twitter header, some of the designs actually incorporate your profile picture and header into one seamless picture...with varying results.  Some are cool, others are serene and still others are just funny. 

Check out 10 great examples of the new Twitter header/avatar combo.  Ryan Seacrest is number three on the list:

Quick video instructions on creating the Twitter header above and a template for editing your pictures to the perfect size and shape are available here: ttp://on.mash.to/R11xl4

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Legal Twittering

Do you want to find out who to follow in the legal world on Twitter?  There are several search tools and lists that will help you find out who the big deals are in the legal Twitterverse.

Read more about figuring out who to follow here: http://www.legalproductivity.com/legal-marketing/how-to-find-lawyers-and-legal-professionals-to-follow-on-twitter/

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Achieving Your Career Goals Through Social Media

More than ever, social media is being used by employers to determine who you really are and what you are really like outside of "the interview."  While there are many horror stories detailing what NOT to do (don't post indiscreet pictures on Facebook, don't tweet about how well your interview is going while it is actually going on, etc.), there are ways to make social media work for you.

8 Ways to Meet Your Professional Goals Using Social Media has a list of recommended ways to boost your social profile the right way and kick start your legal career.

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Tracking Your Life on Social Media

Social media is a way of life for people around the globe.  But, have you ever wondered who is reading your posts and tweets besides your friends and followers?  The answer may surprise you...or not!

"The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) just released DHS internal documents about the surveillance of social media and the information collected daily. EPIC gained access to the documents with a lawsuit, pushing the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents included hundreds of keywords that the government tracks.

The Department of Homeland Security initiative started in February 2011. The department aimed to use social media to stay in-the-know about breaking news as it’s happening. Tweets mentioning “attack” or “shooting” could, for instance, alert officials disturbances to national security right away. “Social media outlets provide instant feedback and alert capabilities to rapidly changing or newly occurring situations,” states U.S. Homeland Security internal documents. “The [Media Monitoring Capability team] works to summarize the extensive information from these resources to provide a well rounded operational picture for the Department of Homeland Security.” (Read more here on Mashable.com)

Dean Obeidallah, a comedian and former attorney, humorously equates the Homeland Security word watch list with George Carlin's list of words you can't say on TV from the 1970's.  "Now it appears there are more than 500 words you shouldn't say on Twitter or Facebook unless you want to be flagged by the Department of Homeland Security. There is a surveillance program the agency quietly began in February 2011 to monitor social media, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center."  (Read more on CNN.com)
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New Book Spotlight

I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy by Lori Andrews 

(for Lexicat catalog link: click here)

Lori Andrews tackles a dificult and controversial topic in her new book.  Before social networks and media, privacy and information was a much more defined issue, with legislation and ideologies that many, if not all, could agree on.  At the very least, most could agree on what the problem was, what possible barriers could be erected to keep information private and the scope of available remedies that could try to make a person whose privacy has been invaded whole in the eyes of the law, if not in the eyes of their community or their family.

"Social networks are the defining cultural movement of our time, empowering us in constantly evolving ways.  We can all now be reporters, altering the world to breaking news of a natural disaster; we can participate in crowd-sourced scientific research; and we can become investigators, helping the police solve crimes.  Social networks have even helped to bring down governments.  But they have also greatly accelerated the erosion of our personal privacy rights, and any one of us could become the victim of shocking violations at any time.....The same power of information that can topple governments can destroy a person's career or marriage." (Book jacket excerpt, para. 1)

The New York Times Book Review begins its review by noting, "It may surprise anyone under 16, but even before the advent of social networking we faced threats to our privacy. A hospital accidentally releasing patient records or a shady marketing firm engaging in Stasi-like data collection — such violations were substantial enough and disturbing enough to make the evening news. Today, however, the “death of privacy” is more like death by a thousand cuts: information leaks out slowly and invisibly, and so routinely that we’re hardly shocked when it does [emphasis added]. Internet companies, which use the word “sharing” almost as a euphemism for “oops,” like to pretend these lapses are normal, even natural. If Mark Zuckerberg’s private photos are up for grabs (as when a recent glitch exposed his Facebook account), what can the rest of us expect?"  New York Times Book Review Link

The New York Times Review has both praise and criticism for Andrews' book, especially noting some difficulty with her proposed solutions to the threat of the death of privacy at the hands of social networking. It is worth the time to read the book for yourself to evaluate this important legal issue to make up your own mind on this issue. Some of the relevlations will shock you and some will not impact your personal views of social media and privacy as much as others, but you can be assured of one thing...as a societal and legal issue...this is a problem that is not going away on its own.


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Twitter and Lawyers

Social media tools have become increasingly popular in the past few years. Twitter has mainly become a favorite for many and has gained some importance in the legal field as well. Many issues and concerns have been raised in the past year on the use of Twitter by lawyers and the courts. As such, the Legal Skills Prof Blog has created a Twitter reading list for lawyers. This handy list compiles many articles helpful for attorneys using or thinking about using Twitter in their practice and the possible issues that can arise in this area. The list also provides useful Twitter resources and tools. Click here to access the Twitter reading list for lawyers.
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Google+ is Here

While some of you have been (understandably) occupied with bar exam study and work assignments, Google announced its new social networking project, Google+, on June 28. This lead to the predictable speculation about how this latest Google foray into social network building would fare against Facebook. Right now Google+ is in a limited field trial, available to a limited group of invited users and temporarily at user capacity. However, you can still take an interactive tour on the Google+ site, and read a little about what the tech experts and bloggers are saying, while you wait for your chance to try it out. The major features are reviewed in Avi Rappoport's article this week in Information Today. For a more conceptual take on Google+ and its social network vision, read Scott Rosenberg's post on Open Salon.
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Law Student Social Networking survey

The National Law Journal recently published an article on law student social networking. A survey of 400 law students across the nation was taken with interesting findings. Most law students reported having problems following up with potential employees, fostering meaningful mentoring relationships and lack of confidence in their networking skills. However, more law students are using professional social networking tools and microblogging which was found to serve them better in a profession which is undergoing enormous transformation. Read the entire article here.
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New Litigation Skill: Facebook Stalking

Recent articles detail how attorneys now routinely search for information about potential jurors on the internet. These articles are summarized well by a Forbes blog post. The gist is that, if you have lax privacy settings on Facebook and you are called for jury duty, expect jury consultants or paralegals to analyze your Facebook page (at least if there are enough resources devoted to the litigation to pay for someone to do that sort of work).

This should not be too surprising. Law firms have hired jury consultants to do similar work for years, and everyone in the legal industry should already be aware of their Facebook privacy settings. But one wonders if this news will cause people to remove their Facebook privacy settings and post outrageous statements online, in hopes of getting out of jury duty.


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Employment Law and Social Networking sites

One of the most interesting areas of law is at the intersection between social media and employment law. How does what your Facebook or MySpace profile affect your rights as an employee? Your workers compensation benefits? Your sick leave benefits? The Nolo Employment Law blog has a nice article on recent developments in employment law and social networking sites.



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Blogging Jurors

A recent article in the Fulton County Daily Report points out the new problems, and opportunities, attorneys are faced with as jurors sign onto blogs and social networking profiles to complain about the cases they are deciding. It might be possible not only to find out if a juror is commenting during trial, but also to use information culled from social networking sites to tailor a presentation to specific jurors.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat