Social Media & Law Schools (an introduction) Professor Michele Pistone, Villanova Law School @profpistone Andrew Brandt, Director, Moorad Center for Study of Sports Law, Villanova Law School @adbrandt
Jun 13, 2015
Social Media & Law Schools
(an introduction)Professor Michele Pistone, Villanova Law School @profpistone
Andrew Brandt, Director, Moorad Center for Study of Sports Law, Villanova Law School @adbrandt
Ok so lets start with the basics…
• Social Media is:o Social networkingo Electronic forms of communicationo Online channels for community based
interaction and inputo Sharing of ideas to reach a wide audienceo Interaction of people in which they share,
create, and exchange information and ideas virtually
Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project tracking surveys 2005-2013.
Lawyer Specific• 59% of lawyers said that their firms
maintain a presence in a social networko 92% LinkenIno 58% Facebook
• For lawyers individuallyo 81% use social networks for professional purposes
• If they can, you can too. Don’t worry we will help.
• Let’s start with the basics.
The Big Four
Fact: 54% of facebook users are
over the age of 25.
There are 168.8 million users of
Facebook in the United States.
Ok.. So Why is Facebook Useful?
In it’s simplest form,
Facebook is used to
connect with people you
already know.
Those friends you see once
every 5 years? Perfect!
Colleague who moved to
Germany? Great!
Good friends you see
often? Absolutely.
Twitter can be
used for more
than getting the
news faster than
any of the
traditional
networks.
Tweets are are
short messages
blasted to the
world limited to
140 characters.
To the world seems like a bit
much…
But that’s the point.
Twitter allows you to
share your
perceptions,
thoughts, ideas with
the world. In short,
twitter is a tool that
broadcasts to the
world.
The youngest
addition to the social
media family.
Google’s brand of a
social media site.
It may be new, but it
is not small. Google
Plus is the second
most used social
media site in the
world, surpassing
twitter with 359
million active users.
I’ve never even heard of it..
+YouStay
connected and share life as it
happens.
Ok.. But that doesn’t mean you
can’t use it. Starting now!
Google+ is the place for passions.
It is the place to share passions
and to express yourself with
people you don’t already know.
Love tax law? Even though I don’t
understand why, your people are
waiting for you on google+.
The serious social media
site.
Job searching.
Professional Networking
done from the comfort of
your couch.
The one time it’s not
weird to connect with
your boss.
Gaining introductions
through a mutual
contact.
Why connect?You get to “showcase” your
work and ideas without it
being weird or socially
unacceptable.
For portraying yourself in a
serious way.
Used for doing business.
You may not want to use it for
yourself but it is a tool through
which you can help recognize
your students skills.
Others
So why should you care?
Great question!
• Get known – make connectionso It brings people to you to see the work you are doing.o Cements relationships.o Allows a space for ideas to grow.o Lets you connect with people doing similar work .o Lets you connect with people with similar interests.
• Learno Before, mass media for general interesto Moving to special interest, sub-culture mediao Get into groups that are targeted to your specific
audience, ideaso World is your RA
The 5 Steps to Creating an
Effective Social Media Presence
1. What is your image?People make split second decisions, often based on
appearances. So, make it catchy! Show what you like! Your interests! Tell something about yourself!
Image BasicsPhoto: Should be 90% your
face.
Show what you have done!
Show your interests.
For those of you worried
about privacy, there are
lots of settings. Don’t feel
pressured to share more
than you are comfortable
and you would be ok
having appear on the front
page of the NY Times.
2. ContentOk so you have a picture. What else? Why should people care about looking at your page or profile? Why should
people read your tweets?
Content basics
Be a curator!
Use links – to other parts of
website, to interesting stories,
show the original source
It is ok to repeat content! You
can re-tweet and re-post.
You can even ask to be re-
tweeted or shared!
Feeling overwhelmed and like
you have nothing to say?
That’s ok! Who really does
anyways? Use Bitly!
More tips• Don’t over do it
o Post informational tools, not just things about yourself
• Use pictures!o Wikimedia
• Cheat!o The one time cheating is ok (shhhh don’t tell your students!)o Find out what is trending and post about it! People will be more
likely to follow you!o Make sure to link to the original source or simply reshare or
repost!
3. Call to Action!So people saw your profile, were like hmmmm.. This is interesting. Then they read your profile and were like hmmmm this is even more interesting.. Now what?
As professors at Villanova
Law School, we can bring
attention to the school, get
more students, better
speakers, bigger donors.
How?
Create a social media
presence, you’ve got their
attention. Now keep it!
Ask for emails, ask for
feedback, keep in touch!
Keep them interested.
4. EngagePeople are commenting on your things!
People are liking what you put on your profile! What do you do?!?
Engagement basics
Respond to comments!
Comment on other
people’s postings!
Like things!
Social Media is NOT a one-
way street! It is a platform
for communication!
I don’t want to sound like
Dr. Phil but…
communication takes more
than one person doing the
talking.
5. Start YesterdayWe realize this is impossible.
But it doesn’t mean you can’t start today!
Yesterday?Don’t feel like you need to
have everything together
to begin a social media
profile.
Media moves fast!
It is almost like promoting
the book, writing the book,
building excitement for the
book, and selling the book
all at once!
You just need to start
somewhere.
This could be you.
Feeling totally overwhelmed and like
you still live in the dinosaur age?
You’re probably not the only one.
Just ask. We can get you started
Basically, it works.