Social frenzy

Posted on 28 April 2010 by David Sparkes from legalsupportnetwork.co.uk with 0 comments

The world is currently gripped by the social media phenomena - not a day goes by these days when I don't hear or read those words somewhere, and there's always something new being said.

Some people are trying to work out how to make the most of it, others are unwittingly drawn into its unfathomable web without an idea of what to do, and then there are those who actively abstain on every level. But whoever you are, it has struck me on a number of occasions recently that the sheer breadth of this subject lends itself to being one of the hottest topics of our time.

Last week I attended a workshop hosted by Hubbard One, which included a session on how law firms are leveraging social networks, blogs and other social media to help drive client growth. Taking part in the event were a wide range of marketing and IT professionals in law firms and at LSN we were pleased to have Rupert Collins-White, our head of content & community, participating as a panel guest.

The reason I mention this event is because it featured that panel session around social media. Like most seminars/workshops it's not unrealistic to expect people to drift off towards the end of the day. This, however, was different. The time for the panel session arrived and the combination of the panel guests, the magic subject matter and the overall level of interest by delegates made for a lively and interesting discussion with excellent, unprompted contributions from the audience.

Reading the signs
Just yesterday I visited an internet exhibition at Earls Court – Internet World – and being there so soon after that Hubbard One event got me thinking.

This was the vision I was confronted with when I arrived at the Social Media Theatre at Internet World: a room packed to the rafters with people there to listen to industry gurus on the magic subject. I'm sure people in the Email Marketing Theatre or the Web Content Theatre would have welcomed the same level of enthusiasm from delegates, but the truth is that social media is quite obviously where it's at.

But when it comes to law firms doing it I repeatedly hear that they are often behind the curve – they're just not progressive. One of the key lessons I took away from the Hubbard One seminar was that, for law firms, social media is all about control. Where do the boundaries of responsibility lie, who can say what, when and why and in terms of their peers who will be first to jump in with two feet?

From where I'm sitting social media is one of those subjects on which no-one has a definitive answer or model – so it's a consultant's dream - and while people are still learning, probing, testing and questioning its merits, the frenzy of activity will go on for some time.