Twitter Party Is Just Beginning

Oct 28th, 2009 | By Rex Gradeless | Category: Facebook, Featured, Lead Article, LinkedIn, Practice Management, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, Web 2.0

As a part of the ABA Journal’s 24 Hours of Legal Rebels Project Larry Bodine and Rex Gradeless debated whether Twitter was a “Waste of Time or Marketing Goldmine“. Here are some of Larry Bodine’s arguments and my responses. Let me know what you think below.

LARRY: Twitter was a fun while it lasted, but the latest statistics from Quantcast.com show that people are already leaving the party. In fact, the number of users peaked on July 18, 2009 at 29.2 million, a number that has dropped by 2 million users since then.

RESPONSE: Compete.com shows 23,538,791 unique visitors last month to Twitter.com, Alexa.com currently ranks Twitter.com as the 13th most trafficked website in the United States. These are visits to the actual website. 3rd party applications for Twitter.com (e.g. TweetDeck, Seesmic Desktop) have increased dramatically in the past few months allowing users to access Twitter.com from various other sources without having to go to the actual Twitter.com website. There has also been a rapid increase in mobile applications which may not count as direct website traffic (e.g. Twitterberry, Twitterfon).

LARRY: Twitter was never that big a deal for the legal profession, according to new research by Leader Networks, which showed that only 6% of lawyers in private practice used Twitter, and only 4% of in-house lawyers used it. As a business development tool, Twitter was an overhyped non-event with few potential clients for lawyers to find.

RESPONSE: This is great news for those lawyers interacting on Twitter.com – one of the most trafficked websites in the country. The less lawyers = the more opportunity for those currently in the legal community to tap into this market. There are already many lawyers who have received business from Twitter.com. The irony of this is that if a lawyer were receiving a bunch of business from Twitter.com would it be rational for that lawyer to scream: “I’m getting tons of business from Twitter.com”? No. I have met hundreds of lawyers using Twitter.com.

LARRY: Twitter is the Macarena of online social networking. As the chart from Quantcast.com shows, Twitter is a classic fad. It was launched on March 2, 2001 and ignored for 8 years. Abruptly, its traffic took off in January 2009 and rose for 7 months before beginning to taper off. Like the Apple Newton, DOS and Castle Wolfenstein, it seemed like ultimate thing of its kind for a while.

RESPONSE: Interesting to call Twitter.com a fad when they keep raising tons of money. What about all the news outlets flocking to Twitter.com? Here’s a very short, incomplete, but powerful list. How about 40 huge brands who have staked claims to, and invested in, Twitter.com? Also, the first prototype for Twitter was built in two weeks in March 2006 and launched publicly in August of 2006. I have no idea where “2001″ comes from?

LARRY: In new survey data by Leader Networks, the vast majority of lawyers do not use Twitter or any other micro-blogging service. Only 6 percent of lawyers participate in microblogging (Twitter, etc.). The survey of 1,474 lawyers was conducted by Leader Networks, a consulting firm that helps businesses foster online social networks. It is the second annual survey that examines the online networking practices of lawyers. A copy of the survey is available online. “Twitter has not yet caught on, especially among corporate counsel,” states the second annual Networks for Counsel Survey. When asked, “What type of social media activities do you engage in professionally?” only 6% said they used Twitter, Plurk or other microblogging services. Even fewer in-house lawyers send tweets: 4%. With more than 90% of lawyers not using Twitter, and even fewer of their target customers tweeting, the research confirms that Twitter is not useful for business development by private lawyers. See Twitter’s Growth Screeches to a Halt — It Was All Hype and Twitter Not Effective for Law Firm Marketing for further information.

RESPONSE: Again, this is great for those lawyers already on Twitter.com – one of the most trafficked websites in the country. The less lawyers = the more opportunity for those currently in the legal community to tap into this market. Twitter.com may, however, be a bad business development tool if your only clients are lawyers. Then you might look elsewhere. At least for now. Until more lawyers sign up. Would you have dismissed email use before lawyers had signed up?

LARRY: With a word limit of 140 characters, Twitter is like coughing online. There is little opportunity to communicate anything. Twitter is, however, a great site for self promotion, spam, porno and a dumping ground for press releases. The only thing missing is the Prince from Nigeria who wants you to send him money to get someone out of jail.

RESPONSE: There are also “Direct Messages” that are not seen by the public. Here, email address are often exchanged and email communication ensues. I know nothing about using Twitter for spam (I have over 72,000 followers and receive little to no spam). Nigeria is a Federal Republic modeled after the United States, their leader is called “President” – they have no princes.

LARRY: That said, Twitter is useful to claim your own name (before someone else does so fraudulently), for following a client, and sending a direct message to someone you may want to meet. However, the same functions can be carried out much more effectively on LinkedIn, Legal OnRamp and Martindale Connected, because these are all networking sites that lawyers use heavily. Twitter is the dullest knife in the communications drawer, compared to Google Alerts, blogging and listserv conversations.

RESPONSE: LinkedIn is the most static of all social networking websites. LinkedIn basically sits there and there’s little to no interaction. This is a very tempting for those who want to put something online and never touch it again. Legal OnRamp primarily limits membership to in-house counsel and a select group of people. Most lawyers are precluded from joining Legal OnRamp - they are not trying to be a true social network, but a closed one. Twitter cannot be the dullest knife in the communications drawer when there are so many news outlets scrambling to Twitter, the entire US Government is using Twitter, lets see what Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen say about the importance of utilizing Twitter and social media as a communication tool:

LARRY: With business people suffering from information overload, Twitter was the straw that broke the camel’s back. You can now be reached by landline, cell phone, voicemail, texting, email, messages from Facebook and Linkedin, instant messaging, Skype, US Mail, FedEx and UPS. But in terms of business development, the most effective way to reach people is face-to-face, so that you can start an in-person, three-dimensional relationship.

RESPONSE: You can actually send Tweets from Skype, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

UPS is using Twitter – http://consumerist.com/5154369/ups-gets-a-twitter-monitor-to-solve-your-problems
FedEx is using Twitter – http://twitter.com/fedexAl

I really enjoy the face-to-face time as well. Services, like Twitter, can lead to face-to-face opportunities. For me, I have met some of the nation’s leading attorneys and legal professionals first on Twitter.com then in person. The value of this cannot be underestimated.

LARRY: The death knell for Twitter came with the news that teenagers don’t use it. They prefer private texting, and are loathe to text in public on Twitter. Bear in mind that trends are ordinarily started by young people — not senior citizens (or else we’d all be having dinner at 4 PM). With no youth following and a primary base of users aged 30 to 50, Twitter had no future.

RESPONSE: Found here.

19% of online adults age 18-24 have used twitter or something like it
20% of online adults age 25-34 have used twitter or something like it
10% of online adults age 35-44 “ ”
5% of online adults age 45-54 “ ”
4% of online adults age 55-64 “ ”
2% of online adults 65+ “ ”
median age of a twitter user is 31
median age of a myspace user is 27
median age of a facebook user is 26
median age of a linkedin user is 40

Not sure why teens would be a driving force in law firm marketing or business development? I’m not an expert in this area.

LARRY: No doubt Twitter is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored, just like when pop singer Chubby Checker started the Twist dance craze in 1960. It too was a brief phenomenon that could not be ignored, and still comes in handy at wedding reception dances even today.

RESPONSE: Exactly. Twitter is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored! We agree! Will Twitter last forever? No. Will Twitter be around for the next 10 years? Yes. Did Chubby Checker’s the Twist ever go out of style? No.

It’s important to recognize Twitter.com as the phenomenon that it is an be a part of modern communication mediums. If not, you may sink.

Is the Twitter party over? No, the party is just beginning.