Too many lawyers do not realize they can’t land kudos and be easily cited without a Twitter account.
How so?
I regularly monitor sources and subjects for items of interest to me. I do it with my news aggregator, Feedly.
Many of the items I read I share on Twitter. Many of these tweets are shoutouts to the subject of the story. I am not alone in doing this.
In order to give a shutout I need the subject’s Twitter handle.
I go over to Google to look up the Twitter account by searching for the person or organization’s name and the word, ‘Twitter.’ I then include the Twitter handle in my tweet, ie, “Big kudos to @patriciasmith for…” and then include what they did.
Without a Twitter handle the person cannot see the recognition I gave them nor the recognition others gave them by retweeting or favoriting my tweet. With a Twitter account, the subject receives notice of the shoutout via an email and a Twitter notification.
This is a big deal with law firm and association leaders who do not have a Twitter account, but whose public relations people get them in headlines.
I do the same with reporters and bloggers I am citing. I am amazed when I cannot find a Twitter handle for a reporter, after all they are in the media.
Sadly far too many reporters and bloggers in the law lack Twitter handles, something that signals that they are out of touch with media today and aren’t looking to engage their readers.