September 01, 2009
Dipity Timelines | Canadian Law Firms on Twitter
I have recently started exploring an extremely interesting new online application called Dipity. Simply stated, Dipity allows you to instantly visualize information in 4 different ways - as a timeline, as a flipbook (similar to Apple's "Cover Flow" if you are familiar with that) as a simple list, or as a map if your entries have a geographic component to them.
A very interesting aspect of the service is that it allows you to pull in all sorts of content (RSS feeds, twitter streams, photos, video, you name it). Feeds update automatically and you can also create manual entries.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I created a quick topic of "Canadian law firms on Twitter" by adding the rss feeds from the firms' respective twitter accounts. (The firms I have included are: Borden Ladner Gervais, Clark Wilson, Davis, Gowlings, Hicks Morley, McCarthy Tetrault, Ogilvy Renault, Oslers and Torys). Have a look below. The buttons in the top left corner let you switch between the 4 different types of view available, and the +/- slider bar directly underneath them is similar to the zoom feature on Google Maps, except that it is adjusting for time (i.e. view in hours, days, weeks, months, years) instead of space.
I think the potential of a visualization tool like this for lawyers is considerable. More on that in a future post. For now, consider this an introduction to the concept.
Posted by dougjasinski at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 18, 2009
CNW Group White Paper on Social Media Use by Canadian Law Firms
CNW Group (formerly Canada NewsWire) has just released an 11 page white paper on Social Media Use by Canadian Law Firms. The report covers familiar ground for those who are already deeply immersed in the area, but for firms and lawyers who are just coming to the discussion, it provides a good overview from an independent 3rd party and introduces many of the key players in the Canadian legal social media community.
A hat tip to the one-man/law student publishing empire Omar Ha-Redeye for highlighting the document on SLAW.
Posted by dougjasinski at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 07, 2009
Social Media - NASABA conference roundup
Just over a week ago I had the privilege of participating on a business development panel discussion at the North American South Asian Bar Association's annual conference, which took place in Vancouver this year. My fellow panelists Sanjiv Kapur , Shirish Gupta (@shirish_gupta), Samia Kirmani, Aaron Templer (@aarontempler) and I discussed different approaches to business development and different attorney comfort levels with social media. The panel was an interesting cross-section of those who don't use social media at all to those who rely on it extensively.
One of the things we all agreed on was that not every tool or approach is right for every individual, and that no one can be present on the entire spectrum of online and offline networking tools and channels that are out there. Try some things on for size, and then expand on the those that are the best personal fit. It's a self-evident point, but one that bears repeating in an era when one can't help but feeling left behind in the flurry of new tools and platforms launching every day.
Another one of the interesting take-aways for me and a theory I've become increasingly certain about is that Facebook is going to be the front line where a large number of issues around lawyers, law firms and social media play out for the simple reason that a significant and growing number of lawyers already have a "personal" facebook account in use. We did a show of hands at the event, and the majority of lawyers in the room had a facebook account. Even for those lawyers who are reticent about social media networking and marketing, if they already have a facebook account it is only a matter of time before colleagues and clients start finding them online and making "friend requests" at which point the questions around the blending of one's personal and professional personae begin.
Aaron Templer and I had also pulled together some links to present at the panel that one or both of us have found useful in understanding social media in the legal context, but as the discussion was a lively one, time ran out on us before we had shared them. As promised at the panel here they are. Hopefully they’ll prove useful for those in attendance and anyone else who happens across this post.
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Five things lawyers need to know about social media
LexTweet: Legal community members who use Twitter.
SecuritiesDocket.com has a directory of "big law" lawyers on twitter.
Law Memo: A good employment law blog (and good Twitter follow, too)
The Legal Beat: a portal/aggrevator of legal information and news
LinkedIn Groups sorted by the keyword “legal”
Twitter tracking tools rounded up in a nice blog post
Law schools’ social media best practices blog post
C-Level executives social media usage report from Forbes and Google
A great legal content portal – documents, presentations, more
FriendFeed for lawyers – a blog post by a lawyer for lawyers.
Social networking for lawyers - Socialmediatoday post.
Those last two came to me from a law student on Twitter called Rex7. You can follow him on Twitter, and check out his blog.
Have some more to share? Please add them by commenting on this post.
Posted by dougjasinski at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
