The Forum

Jolene Cieniawski,

Editor in Chief

Ok, so chances are that at least 80% of the students AND professors here at VUSL have some sort of online social networking account, whether it be Facebook, MySpace, or something else.  Chances also are that those who have an account check it at least once a day, but probably more like five to ten.  I bet most of us check our online account more in one day than we check our email or our online bank account.  So what is the attraction?  And furthermore, are these sites a good thing or a bad thing for us as future lawyers?

Many of us would agree that online social networking sites are just that – online social networking.  They are a fun way to network with other people without having the hassle of picking up the phone or seeing people in person.  But, are we really networking through these sites?  When I think of networking, I think of reaching out to prospective employers or current or past colleagues who may be able to offer me something or vice versa in this professional world.  That being said, those professional types of people are the ones who most of us deliberately try to keep off our page.  We change our privacy settings to make us undiscoverable or at the very least , uninteresting with just a profile picture and current location.  And God forbid someone in our professional network ask to be our “friend” – we don’t want them seeing our Wall or pictures!  It’s arguable that the “networking” we really gain entails silly banter with friends, showing our friends what we are “Fans” of, and stalking old lovers or schoolmates.  This may be more of distraction that an actual networking tool, as it claims to be.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the online world of “social networking,” but every time I see a “Farmville” or “Mafia Wars” post, I feel more and more as if the networking intent is slowly disappearing. 

Yeah, so I share my life with my friends on my online social networking page and preclude all professional relationships by hiding myself – what does this have to do with the world of lawyering?  Well, it’s a somewhat scary thought to imagine that people are trending toward favoring a more informal, electronic way of keeping in touch, rather than a face-to-face approach.  Sure, a huge part of a lawyer’s job is to maintain contact with a client in the most convenient way possible, and this may not be face-to-face, i.e. via phone or email, but has the door been opened to a slow loss of actual human communication?  If we are used to the nuances of online social communication, will we freeze up when we have to actually see people in person?  If we become too engulfed in a world of convenience and short-cuts, our clients can suffer and we may not even know it unless you have that outspoken client who will explicitly demand your attention and human correspondence.  Other clients will slip through the cracks and will likely never return to you if you don’t know how to be warm and open to them in person.  You may even lose clients by being put into an unwanted situation.  For example, a few years back when I was selling real estate, a client of mine “Friended” me on Facebook.  Needless to say, I was shocked – I remember thinking, who does that?  Why would he possibly want to be my “Friend” online?  Aside from my shock, anxiety set it.  If I “Friend” him, he’ll see my entire personal world.  If I don’t, I may offend him and lose him as a client.  It seemed like a lose-lose situation to me, but I had to choose something.  I decided to ignore the request, and luckily our business together soon ended and he moved on.  I still think about it, though, and hope it never happens again. 

Online social networking has other implications in the legal world aside from client relationships.  In law school, we learn about the continuing evolution of case law and statutes accepting emails and electronic communications as hard copy paper.  Will online social networking sites fit in this realm?  As lawyers, we’ll have to continually check our jurisdictions to make sure we are on top of what’s going on.  Our courts are new to the concept, but Australia and New Zealand are making headway in this area.  Their courts have found in 2008 and 2009 that Facebook is a valid protocol to send notice to defendants and it is also an acceptable avenue to send and receive legal papers/filings.  A site that we see as fun and time-wasting is suddenly now a serious avenue for correspondence in every day legal life.

So, what’s the point of the article?  Be aware of the implications online social networking can have on your professional life.   I know you’re thinking ‘yeah, yeah, yeah,’ but I sure wasn’t thinking that when one of my clients hunted me down.   It may be the fun, hip thing to do, but always expect the unexpected.  You never know who your clients will be and you never know when and how your online social networking world will collide with your professional one.               

Jolene Cieniawski is a 2L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu.   874 words

This entry was posted on Monday, April 19th, 2010 at 11:14 am and is filed under 1-Ready for Editing, 2-Ready for Final Edit.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.