Courting Twitterville

Just last week, Legal Blog Watch summed up a number of court appearances where there has been reporting that Twitter has enabled, showing that the mircoblog is making a real run at real-time legal news gathering. I think it remins to be seen if there are followers for these tweets, but God love these residents of Twitterville for trying.

Even more interesting to me was the list of law schools who have claimed their space on Twitter, which suggests that the penetration of the 140 character message is deeper still in our student population. That would be completely understandable, as it resembles instant messaging in a way that these techno-law clerks-in-training would understand instinctively. Hat tip to the Social Media Law Student for watching this development.

Kara Smith’s blog is also big on Twitter, but she has a cautionary tale in her archives of how an identity can be usurped or tarnished through the same online social conversations. One final thought: if you have your name already reserved in these online social media, using the channels to communicate is the only sure way protect your brand. Silence speaks of your firm’s indifference, which has its own reputational effect.