Solo Practice

The Darker Side of Social Media for Lawyers - Update

By Carolyn Elefant

See end of post for update - could this mess have been avoided?

For new and existing solos, the power of social media is intoxicating.  Tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs and Twitter are easy to use, extremely inexpensive and can help new lawyers connect with colleagues and prospective clients and establish a prominent image online. I've sung the praises of social media myself and I stand by what I said.

But for all of its virtues, social media has a dark side - quite literally.   The anonymity provided by most social media sites lets users conceal their true identities in the shadows.  If you're not careful, you may wind up friending or following some rather unsavory characters, as these cautionary posts by Kevin O'Keefe and Eric Turkewitz reinforce. 

Scott Greenfield shares the full back story to Kevin's and Eric's posts.  A lunatic who's been cyber-stalking Mark Bennett ("worst lawyer in Houston") after Bennett outed him for content scraping and other illegal or deceptive law firm marketing practices set up a Twitter account as @asshatlawyer.  Apparently, @asshatlawyer's sole purpose is to trash and attempt to intimidate Bennett, Greenfield and the other lawyers who stepped up to warn other users of @asshatlawyer's conduct.  Yet unbelievably, @asshatlawyer has 934 followers, many apparently from those who that @asshatlawyer would follow them back. 

Laudably, Scott doesn't propose (as does one of his commenters) that bars should ban or regulate lawyer use of Twitter, nor does he counsel lawyers to stop using social media.  Instead, Scott urges responsible use (knowing your followers, rejecting the hype) and most importantly,

[Making] sure that your friends in the blawgosphere and twittersphere are made aware when a psycho inserts himself into the community by spreading the word to make sure that no one inadvertently, foolishly, engages with him.  Outing the psycho-stalkers will at least minimize the annoyance that twitter leaves us exposed to.

As I've stated repeatedly, social media changes the media, not the message or the motives.  You wouldn't follow a complete stranger down the street or invite some crazy person who into your law office who didn't express any interest in using your service.  At the same time, we don't cease our social interaction and lock our doors because of the few crazies out there.

The same is true with social media.  Does it attract kooks and crackpots and downright dangerous individuals?  Absolutely, and far more than in the "real world" population precisely because of the anonymity that it affords. Still, that's no reason to stop using social media, but rather a wake up call to participate in it ethically, transparently and responsibly.  And to avoid and call out those who don't.

Update - If you're looking for more background on the stalker part of this story, you can find a good summary and insight at Rick Horowitz's Probable Cause.

Second update (1/3/10 - 10 pm):  To clarify, the stalker incident wasn't so much the point of my post as was the emphasis on treading cautiously when using social media.  Nevertheless, I received an email asking whether this situation could have been avoided if the bloggers who originally outed the stalker hadn't been as aggressive in engaging him to begin with.  After all, you never know if you're dealing with a wacko or a reasonable person.  And there's also the question of whether we should give more attention to these lunatics at all.

Both are fair questions.  Personally, I  think that content scraping warrants public censure particularly when it's done under the auspices of an attorney website.  But is there a point at which the escalation could have stopped?  In re-reading Rick Horowitz's post (he's a few steps removed from the controversy but nevertheless embroiled), I don't think so.  However, if calling out people for improper conduct is going to lead to retaliation, then how can lawyers protect themselves?  Sure, established lawyers with good reputations and great Internet visibility can insulate themselves, but what about a newer attorney who seeks to out negative conduct?  Is there a way to do it to avoid harmful backlash and reputational damage?  

Also, what about the question about engaging trolls?  Do we embolden them more?  

 I'm interested in hearing your views so comment away!  Also, for additional background on these issues, you could check out Dan Solove's prescient 2007 book, Future of Reputation which examines some of these questions.

Full post as published by My Shingle.com on January 03, 2010 (boomark / email).