There has been a lot of talk recently about using twitter as a lawyer. And I thought it might be about time to actually provide some help in using it. Instead of just telling you should, why help you actually use it.

A very brief introduction:

And that is all this section will be, a very brief introduction. I am not going to tell you its history or about the company behind it. You can find that information on Wikipedia.

Twitter is a tool. It is a social media, social networking tool. And it is a networking tool. Simple as that. And for the lawyer, you need to know when to take it out of the tool box and use it.

Twitter is a place where you can follow those you decide to follow. When you follow someone in twitter, you are going to get their twitter feeds. And those feeds come in a maximum of 140 characters. When you first start using twitter you are going to wonder how in the heck you are going to get anything said of any value in only 140 characters. I can tell you first hand, it won’t take you long to get the hang of it. 140 characters is really all you need. Anymore, and you need to send an email or write a blog post.

When twitter first started its users were asked to answer a simple questions, “[w]hat are you doing?” It has evolved into more than just what are you doing. It has evolved into a tool you can use to interact and learn from those you follow and who are following you.

So that its, that all twitter is. It is a place where you can communicate with those you follow and who follow you. A place where you write out your message in no more than 140 characters. A place where you write more than just “what you are doing.”

Twitter is really more than that too

Remember where we said twitter is a social media tool. And what is social media. A definitive explanation of social media is “any new web tool or technology that connects people.” Connecting with people and building relationships is, in my humble opinion, one of the best and greatest uses and benefits of twitter. And twitter is truly just one small piece of the social media puzzle. But a powerful one at that.

Ways to use twitter

Some time back, I wrote a post on how I use twitter — let me count the ways. And as a lawyer reading this post, you can use each of the 7 ways and apply them to how you can use twitter.

Do you see where this is going? Each of those uses fall right into using twitter as a tool for interacting and learning. And I know exactly what you are saying to yourself right now. Twitter is going to be way too overwhelming and there is no way I can do my everyday duties as a lawyer and provide representation to my clients.

However, twitter does not have to be overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be information overload. And it doesn’t have to be addictive. To help you with this, I will be continuing this series on how to use twitter as a lawyer over the next few days.

The next post will be “who do I follow and how do I decide who to follow?” In the mean time, please leave your comments and/or questions here so we can keep the conversation going. Or if you would prefer, drop me an email at grant@g2webmedia.com and I will be glad to discuss using twitter as a tool with your further. Or if you would like to follow me on twitter, go to @GrantGriffiths to see how I use twitter. And just for a teaser, go to 145 lawyers ( and legal professionals) to follow on twitter for some ideas on who you might want to follow on twitter who are in the legal industry and already using twitter.