The Musings of a Cranky Old Twit

I Like the Old Days
I come from that weird age group that was born in the disco era and did most of their growing up during the golden days of the 80s when Michael Jackson and Chevy Chase were cool, MTV played music videos and you rode your bike without a helmet. Research for school assignments was done in the library. I remember black and white televisions without remote controls, microwaves that scared the crap out of you and dialing on rotary phones.  OK. Call me old fashioned. It took me years to finally join Facebook and to create a blog. I just bought a new notebook and now they tell me the "in-thing" is an i Pad.

Now, I keep reading that many attorneys are starting to twitter. So what the heck is it? Do you twit someone? How do they twit me? Is it safe? Should I tell me wife I've been twitting behind her back? I eventually decided that if there was a possibility twitterficating people would help my marketing efforts, why not give it a try. Twitter is a social networking service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The service is free to use over the web, but using SMS may incur phone services provider fees. I relented and joined Twitter. On the sign up page, I was asked if I want to follow the twittering thoughts of various people. I figured why not. These are successful people. My first message was from Lavar Burton wishing William Shatner a happy 78th birthday. The second was George Stepanopolus stating he was getting on a subway. Riveting news.

Many attorneys rave about twittering. Frankly, I can do without it. I don't need to know about what you had for breakfast or that Mr. Boopsie your poodle just took a nap. Don't get me wrong. I see the potential of networking with an increased number of lawyers and clients through this service. But, I prefer face to face contact. Do I really want to network with people who find the need to tell me every minute detail of their day? If you prefer to twitter might I suggest a list of 145 legal professionals you can follow courtesy of the jd scoop. http://scoop.jdsupra.com/2008/09/articles/law-firm-marketing/145-lawyers-and-legal-professionals-to-follow-on-twitter/ Maybe I will give twittering another try. Until then, leave me alone. Matlock is on. And get off my lawn. Damn kids! P.S. Who are the Jonas Brothers? (Editors Note: As of April 14th, I am on the bandwagon)