Another week has passed, and another group of people have started using new internet technology to connect with others and build business.  Hopefully, that group of people includes some lawyers.  Welcome to part 12 of our blog series on social media for attorneys.  This week we will focus on answering questions, the social media way.

Developed out of necessity, we used to have discussion boards and forums as a means of talking about common interests.  The online world would congregate to certain websites to discuss things, ask questions, find news, etc.  From there, we developed various other means of communication, leading to blogs, social networks, and question and answer services.

Question and answer services are a very basic way of asking the “world” a question, and letting the internet work for you.  If I log into one of these sites and ask “What is Twitter?”, hopefully someone out there will find that question and deliver an answer back to me.  Multiple people can answer the same question, and it can even start a whole discussion on the subject.

Using these services can help you label yourself as an expert in any field.  The more questions you answer, the more people will see your name associated with a certain topic.  The better your answers are, the more people will respect your opinion.  It all leads to a more credible online personality and can get you noticed by the online community.

Some sites that offer question and answer services are LinkedIn, which uses the power of their network connections to deliver questions to those who can answer them, Yahoo!, WikiAnswers, AnswerBag and AllExperts.  Each of these sites works basically the same, with various features and popularity making the biggest difference.  I would recommend logging in to one or two and cruising around, find some questions you can answer, and keep track of those discussions.

In addition, Twitter has started to replace these services in a lot of ways.  Look for people that are asking questions on Twitter and send them a reply or a direct message.  They will thank you for it and you will gain respect within that community.

Also, as an additional task, you can think about adding a service like this to your blog or website.  Include a place where people can ask questions to you or the community.  In this space, the subject of the questions can be narrowly defined to your area of practice or expertise.  Allow people to discuss various things they hear or see, including cases and laws.

Next week we will take a break from direct advice and focus on the larger picture of social media.  We will cover the current atmosphere involving the social web, where it is going, and what changes it is going to have on the rest of the world.

Past Installments of this Series:
Part One – Intro to Social Media for Attorneys
Part Two – Signing up for the Networks
Part Three – Using Blogs as an Information Source
Part Four – Start Blogging Today
Part Five – Introduction to Twitter
Part Six – Introduction to LinkedIn
Part Seven – Networks as a Communication Tool
Part Eight – Submit Yourself to Blog Catalogs
Part Nine – Put Your PR Department to Work
Part Ten – Lend us your Comments
Part Eleven – Intro to Viral Marketing