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 14 of our blog series on social media for attorneys.  This week we will focus on blog interaction techniques.

If you are a blogger, you probably have some interest in what other bloggers in your area are talking about.  This is the reason that most bloggers are also blog readers, hence the “community” of people and blogs we call the blogosphere.  The blogosphere has become a great place for casual interaction between people of varying opinions, goals and ideas.  And just like in any social interaction, there are a set of standard practices that have developed.

1. Comments – commenting on a blog should be used to add value to that post.  If you have an opinion that differs from that of the blogger, use the comments area to explain your view instead of trash the post.  This will start a good dialogue.  If you can expand on the bloggers points, do so in the comments so that other readers can learn more.  Using comments to say negative things about the blogger or to add meaningless information to link back to yourself are ways to get yourself ostracized in the blogosphere.

2. Reposting – a practice that is particularly controversial among blogs is the idea of reposting material.  Some blogs take their content of other blogs and news sources, reposting part of a post and linking it to the original.  In fact, I have a strong feeling that this post will eventually be reposted somewhere.  Though this is not necessarily unacceptable, it is bad practice.  You are much better off taking part of a post that you like, and writing something unique to go along with it.  But always give the original blogger credit and a link to that post.

3. Responding to comments – when people leave comments on your blog, take this as a compliment.  Whether the comment is good or bad, someone took time to read your full opinion and add their own.  Whenever possible, reply to their comment right below.  And, if they give their email address along with the comment, I would recommend writing them a quick email that thanks them for reading and adding their thoughts.  This shows that you genuinely value readers, and will make it much more likely that they will turn into a full time subscriber.

4. Blogrolls and Links – Use a blogroll, or links on your blog, to link your readers to other blogs that may interest them.  Many people abuse links, trying to help out friends who blog and get links back in return.  Although this may be a good search engine strategy, it may not be of much use to your readers.  Always remember, when adding a link, the best thing to do is think “If my reader clicks this, will they like it?”

Those are a few examples of how we can use blogs to interact with other people around the web.  Though there are many ways to use blog to our advantage, there are things that you should remember along the way.  Bloggers are people, and people are entitled to their opinions.  The social web is useful for debating and expanding upon ideas in a positive way.  It is our job to keep it that way.

Next week we will focus on interactions across other networks, including Facebook and Twitter.

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
Part Twelve – Answer Questions 2.0
Part Thirteen – The Big Picture