Tweet Tweet

John Pacenti has a piece in the DBR today about lawyers tweeting. As far as I can tell, lawyers and Twitter have not been a successful pairing so far because most lawyers are trying to damn hard to use it for marketing instead of for fun. Following most lawyers on Twitter is deathly boring -- it's much more fun to follow Chad Ochocinco.

The article quotes a bunch of lawyers, but doesn't have Brian Tannebaum, probably the most prolific tweeter, who just tweeted his vacation. Brian has been writing a bunch on the problems with lawyers trying to use Twitter (here's his most recent post). I think Brian is a tad too critical of lawyers who try to market themselves on Twitter. I don't think there is any danger to it... I think like anything else: people who aren't good at what they do aren't going to get business, no matter how much they tweet.

Back to Pacenti. Here's his list of do's and don't for tweeters:

DO understand professional demographics. Tax lawyers seek out accountants; criminal attorneys follow expert witnesses and jury experts.
DON’T follow more than 100 people than are following you.
DO get yourself placed on a list of lawyers to follow on Twitter.
DON’T use Twitter as a marketing tool.
DON’T try to solicit business or make sales.
DO use applications like Tweetdeck to filter topics, create groups and maximize efficiency.
DON’T tweet more than 10 times a day or more than five times an hour.
DO publicize speaking events, tconferences and blog items.
DON’T tweet anything that can’t be quoted in the news.

My feeling is that if you have to read a list of DOs and DON'Ts for something like Twitter, it probably isn't for you. As for me, I still have my Twitter page, so come follow me.