There are a host of applications on Facebook that allow you to integrate your blog with your Facebook pages. However, Networked Blogs is one worth using. It allows you to promote your blog to your friends and the entire Facebook community.

You can download the application for you Facebook account here.

Networked Blogs Features Include:

• Works on both: profiles and Facebook Pages
• Import your blog feed to your profile or public page
• A visual blogroll on your profile to promote your blog and blogs you like
• A directory of blogs organized by topic and geographical locations
• Read news and vote articles you love
• A community of like minded people to connect with

We have ours setup to automatically post new articles from our blog on our AttorneySync Facebook Page. It’s worth checking out.

Free Guide: Facebook For Lawyers Want to learn how to utilize Facebook to build relationships and bring more business for your firm? Download AttorneySync’s Free Guide: Facebook For Lawyers.

I found this Social Media Venn Diagram over the weekend at despair.com. The best humor is when there is an element of truth behind it…….enjoy.

Free Guide: Facebook For Lawyers Want to learn how to utilize Facebook to build relationships and bring more business for your firm? Download AttorneySync’s Free Guide: Facebook For Lawyers.

AttorneySync’s newest guide is one that we have been asked about numerous times.  We are happy to be releasing AttorneySync’s Facebook For Lawyers Guide.

Some quick facts on Facebook:

• More than 300 million active users
• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older

It is important that you leverage the power and reach of Facebook to build professional relationships and establish your law firm’s brand. The following guide outlines some simple suggestions and ways you can utilize Facebook to achieve this including:

• Segmenting Your Profile For Personal and Professional Relationships
• How To Properly Setup A Facebook Page For Your Law Firm
• Setting Up Groups To Interact With Like-Minded Users
• Leverage Existing Groups For Referrals And Connections
• Advantages Specifically For Lawyers In Using Facebook

You can download the free Facebook for Lawyers Guide here!

Twitter recently debuted it’s new Lists feature. According to Mashable:

Twitter lists is a new way to organize the people you’re following on Twitter, or find new people. In actuality, though, Twitter Lists are Twitter’s long awaited “groups” feature. They offer a way for you to bunch together other users on Twitter into groups so that you can get an overview of what they’re up to.

Lists makes Twitter easier to use and engage with. It gives you the ability to follow a topic or group of interesting people, without the need to follow each of them. I think Twitter Lists could have a profound effect on the way people and businesses use Twitter. Here are some links to help you better understand what lists are, how to use them, and some of the implications.

This is a great article by Mashable discussing what Twitter Lists are and how to use them – HOW TO: Use Twitter Lists

For those that want a thorough description and evaluation of Twitter lists, check out the blog at Pistachio. The author co-wrote the Twitter for Dummies guide. She is doing a 3 part series on Twitter Lists. Here are the first 2 parts of the series (the third has not been released as of this post) – Part 1: What Are Twitter Lists, Part 2: Twitter Lists: Developers and Applications

The following article at the Snowcrashing blog discusses 6 Ways To Look At Twitter Lists including:

• A Reputation Tool
• A People Discovery Tool
• A Content Aggregation Tool
• A Corporate Identity Tool
• A Mob Power Tool
• A Crowd-Sourced Targeting Tool

Read the full post here.

Twitter Guide For Lawyers Want to learn more about using Twitter for your practice? Download AttorneySync’s Free Twitter For Lawyers Guide.

I recently wrote a post about sponsored Tweets and the ethics involved with getting paid to post on your Twitter account.  I was sent a link to an interesting article today, 8 Tips To Make Sponsored Tweets Work.

The article discusses 8 ways to make sponsored tweets work, including:

1. Protect Your Reputation

2. Beware of Systems Based On Pay-Per-Click

3. Clear Transaparency and Disclosure

4. Ads Perform Better On A Smaller Network

5. Go Beyond A Simple Product Pitch

6. Ads Should Be Conversational

7. Beware of Fake Twitter Accounts and Spammers

8. Too Many Sponsored Tweets Will Turn Off Followers

You can read the full article here.

The article does address a few of my concerns including transparency and protecting your reputation.  You don’t want to be known as a spammer.  Take a minute to check it out.

Twitter Guide For Lawyers Want to learn more about using Twitter for your practice? Download AttorneySync’s Free Twitter For Lawyers Guide.

AttorneySync is releasing a new guide today: Lawyers Guide To Using Lawlink

The guide is free to download. Lawlink is a social network built specifically for the legal community. We created this guide to give you a better understanding of the Lawlink network and review the benefits and features it provides. We lay out how we feel you can best utilize the network depending on your needs. Download the Lawlink guide here.

Are Sponsored Tweets A Good Idea?

I read an article in Time Magazine this weekend discussing a company called Izea.  Izea started a platform called sponsoredtweets where companies can pay Twitter users to Tweet about their products and services. According to Time:

“Twitter users can sign in, set the price they want companies to pay them for tweeting an ad on their behalf and wait for the offers to come in.”

Izea got it’s start building a platform connecting bloggers with advertisers willing to compensate them for plugs on their blogs.

Every sponsored tweet is appended with a “sponsored” disclosure tag at the end of the tweet.

What Are The Ethical Implications?

With a blog post, I think it is easier to let readers know that the post is sponsored. Readers can draw their own conclusions as a result. However, even when some type of disclosure tag is appended to a Tweet, this tag is easy to miss or gloss over when viewing a stream. I think it is important that people know, without a doubt, that the Tweet they just saw was sponsored.

That being said, I don’t have a problem with it if people want to monetize their Twitter accounts. It is their option to face the backlash of lost followers or angry replies when people realize they are tweeting out sponsored tweets. I could even make the argument that if they believe in the product they are tweeting about, who does it hurt if they get paid to tell their friends about it?

I get tired of all the “experts” in social media telling people the “right way” to act or use a service. Twitter is in its infancy, and while there are basic rules developing, it is far from a mature community. Sure there are basic guidelines and common decencies, but at the end of the day if you don’t like the way someone interacts with you, I’m betting you’ll avoid them. However, just because it turns you off, doesn’t mean someone else won’t like it.

What do you think? Are sponsored tweets a good idea?

Twitter Guide For Lawyers Want to learn more about using Twitter for your practice? Download AttorneySync’s Free Twitter For Lawyers Guide.

Vivox Voice Chat For Facebook

Vivox, a Boston-based company that offers voice chat services,  is providing a new technology to Facebook and Twitter users that will allow users to have high-fidelity, conversations with anyone on their friends or followers list.   Even non Facebook and Twitter users can participate, as Vivox plans to offer free dial-in numbers that will allow anyone to call into an existing conversation, kind of like a call-in phone conference.

The technology will also be available to third party developers to use in their applications.

I’m curious to see the effect this will have on the way  Facebook and Twitter are utilized by firms, businesses, and lawyers for networking.  This seems to me to be the next big leap for these two.

Free Guide: Facebook For Lawyers Want to learn how to utilize Facebook to build relationships and bring more business for your firm? Download AttorneySync’s Free Guide: Facebook For Lawyers.

While this embarrassing Twitter fiasco is a few months old, it is a great example of how NOT to use social media. Back in January, a former VP of Ketchum Interactive Communications got himself into major trouble after carelessly tweeting upon landing in Memphis, TN for a meeting with one of his biggest clients.

James Andrews was headed for his presentation on digital and social media for the worldwide communications group at FedEx, when he tweeted:

“True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say, “I would die if I had to live here!”

Not only did an employee at FedEx find Andrews’ tweet, but when he responded he copied the FedEx Corporate Vice President, Vice President, Directors and all management of FedEx’s communication department AND the chain of command at Ketchum on his e-mail:

Mr. Andrews,

If I interpret your post correctly, these are your comments about Memphis a few hours after arriving in the global headquarters city of one of your key and lucrative clients, and the home of arguably one of the most important entrepreneurs in the history of business, FedEx founder Fred Smith.

Many of my peers and I feel this is inappropriate. We do not know the total millions of dollars FedEx Corporation pays Ketchum annually for the valuable and important work your company does for us around the globe. We are confident however, it is enough to expect a greater level of respect and awareness from someone in your position as a vice president at a major global player in your industry. A hazard of social networking is people will read what you write.

Not knowing exactly what prompted your comments, I will admit the area around our airport is a bit of an eyesore, not without crime, prostitution, commercial decay, and a few potholes. But there is a major political, community, religious, and business effort underway, that includes FedEx, to transform that area. We’re hopeful that over time, our city will have a better “face” to present to visitors.

James, everyone participating in today’s event, including those in the auditorium with you this morning, just received their first paycheck of 2009 containing a 5% pay cut… which we wholeheartedly support because it continued the tradition established by Mr. Smith of doing whatever it takes to protect jobs.

Considering that we just entered the second year of a U.S. recession, and we are experiencing significant business loss due to the global economic downturn, many of my peers and I question the expense of paying Ketchum to produce the video open for today’s event; work that could have been achieved by internal, award-winning professionals with decades of experience in television production.

Additionally Mr. Andrews, with all due respect, to continue the context of your post; true confession: many of my peers and I don’t see much relevance between your presentation this morning and the work we do in Employee Communications.

(Signed as a personal message by a member of the FedEx Corporate Communications team)

For me, the kicker in all of this is that Andrews was supposed to be the expert on social media. In any case it is a great reminder, that just like anything else, manners are necessary when using social media.

Here are five things to keep in mind when using social media:

1. Publishing still means publishing – Whenever you post something on Twitter, Facebook, or your LinkedIn account you are publishing information to the web. This means that with the exception of setting loose privacy settings, anyone can get access to your information.
2. Don’t use text-messsage short hand for professional uses, it won’t make clients or employees LOL – Using text-message short hand in e-mails or responses won’t make you look cool or down to earth. It’s definitely not a good way to be efficient and it will more than likely make you look stupid and unprofessional.
3. Be aware of your audience – It’s important to know the audience or target market for your blog, website, or posts. Some people are more sensitive to certain things and may take something you write out of context. While Andrews probably didn’t intend to offend anyone at FedEx, his tweet was not well received and probably taken out of context.

4. Transparent communication isn’t the same as being rude – While it is important to maintain a certain level of transparent communication with associated and the public, that doesn’t mean you can be rude. If you wouldn’t say something to someone’s face then you shouldn’t be posting it online.
5. Respect is still the name of the game – Whether your working with social media or not, respect is key. More than ever before we are operating as a global market and it is absolutely imperative to respect what everyone else is trying to accomplish.

Photo by Intersection Consulting

LinkedIn Guide For Lawyers Want to learn pro tips on utilizing LinkedIn for networking and growing your practice? Download AttorneySync’s Free LinkedIn For Lawyers Guide.

There is a fascinating post on the Ted Blog where they have a Q & A with Clay Shirky regarding Twitter, Social Media, and the Iran situation.  Clay Shirky is an NYU professor and wrote one of my favorite books that I highly recommend reading, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.

When asked what he makes of the Iran situation right now, Clay responds:

“I’m always a little reticent to draw lessons from things still unfolding, but it seems pretty clear that … this is it. The big one. This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Chicago demonstrations of 1968 where they chanted “the whole world is watching.” Really, that wasn’t true then. But this time it’s true … and people throughout the world are not only listening but responding. They’re engaging with individual participants, they’re passing on their messages to their friends, and they’re even providing detailed instructions to enable web proxies allowing Internet access that the authorities can’t immediately censor. That kind of participation is really extraordinary.”

Sometimes, as we get caught up in our own little spheres of influence and needs, it’s difficult to see the big picture.  I personally spend time connecting with friends, marketing my business, etc. through social media outlets.  However, it’s easy to forget how fundamentally services such as Twitter and Facebook are changing the way we interact and communicate with the world and each other.

I think this most recent event shows how much the power of communication has shifted from a few to many.  Distribution of the information was more easily controlled in the past…but today, with the help of social media, controlling that information is much more difficult.  I think, as with everything, this can have very beneficial effects as well as extremely negative ones.

What are your thoughts?

Twitter Guide For Lawyers Want to learn more about using Twitter for your practice? Download AttorneySync’s Free Twitter For Lawyers Guide.