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 23 of our blog series on social media for attorneys.  This week we will discuss what to do as new forms of social media become available.

It is well understood that the social media websites and services that we are using today will eventually give way to bigger and better versions of themselves.  Either the service will change and get more advanced, or there will be new competitors in the space that will become more popular.  It is important now to plan out how you will address these “advances” in the social media realm.

For many of the lawyers using social media, and following along in this series, you are using it mainly to broaden your online voice and build awareness about yourself and your practice.  Because of this, there is no race to be an early adopter of the next big thing in the social media space.  You want to “locate” yourself where you will have access to the most people, which means the more popular sites and networks.  So as new companies join the race toward more complete online communities, you can feel comfortable letting them come and go, only taking notice when they start to grow.

The “tech-sters” and social media experts will jump from new service to new service.  They will try them, grade them, and most likely move on.  That is, unless enough people find a new site that much better than an existing one.  Then a crowd will start to form, the service will grow, and more people will start to talk about it.  That is when you will want to take notice, maybe give a trial run, and see what it’s all about.

But, a warning, if you do decide that there is a new site out there that you need to become active in, don’t leave your old accounts to rust.  Stay active, continue to connect with people through writing and conversing.  Obviously you don’t want to spread yourself so thin that you are spending so much of your time worrying about social media, but it is a good idea to keep up with those sites and networks that are working.

So do not fear as you look toward your future in our online world.  When the right opportunities come along, you will hear about them.  Just keep listening, and keep growing your networks.

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
Part Fourteen – Interactions on Blogs
Part Fifteen – Interactions on Networks
Part Sixteen – Recruiting on the Networks
Part Seventeen – Promote Yourself to Get a Job
Part Eighteen – Video Resumes
Part Nineteen – Social Media on Social Media
Part Twenty – Blog Content is Vital
Part Twenty One – Law Students are Coming
Part Twenty Two – NYSBA Journal Headline