The Light and Dark Side of Twitter

Here are the things I love about Twitter, that I don’t seem to find anywhere else.

1. Twitter is incredibly dynamic. If I post a good blog post with a great title, I will get 200-300 unique visitors within an hour or two. There is nothing that matches the speed at which people react to good information posted on Twitter.

2. Twitter is searchable. This seems so obvious, but none of the the other social media platforms are matching the power of Twitter to search any conversation ...

going on anywhere in the world.

3. Twitter is where connected PR people live. Journalists, anchors, and all sorts of big time press. Since your comments are searchable, this increases the chances that your ideas will be picked up by major news outlets if you are on Twitter. You may be able to talk to more lawyers on Legal On Ramp, but if you want free press, and thought leadership, Twitter is great place to be sharing ideas.

The dark side of Twitter:

1. The name itself, and the names of all the various tweets, retweet, tweet-ups, and etc. Here I am trying to help professionals take Twitter seriously, and I am met with giggles by the sound of the network’s name.

2. The learning curve is brutal. Most people don’t make it past their first few hours on Twitter, frankly most people don’t have the time to learn it. Twitter is very simple and easy to use, but it is not at first glance intuitive HOW you use it. I am hoping Twitter will figure out a way to make the experience of getting started better.

3. Twitter has not gained widespread acceptance in law firms or in many professional circles. Fortunately, information that first breaks on Twitter soon migrates to Connected, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the blagosphere where a much larger population of lawyers reside.

The bad aside, the breaking news comes through Twitter. As much as other platforms try to mimic Twitter, none have been able to spread information as quickly and effectively as Twitter. Twitter has stumbled upon something that will permanently change the way we communicate. It will be interesting to see where things will go in the next few years.

(This is my comment added to a Marindale Hubble Connected discussion regarding which social network is best for lawyers. It can be found HERE.)

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