Tweeting Professional Responsibility

I kicked off the semester trying something new in my Professional Responsibility class today - a live Tweet wall.  You can see how it went by searching for #knakePR

Here some are the reasons why I decided to add this as a component of my course:

1. Twitter is an example of the technology awareness now required of lawyers in the latest revisions to the comments of ABA Model Rule 1.1 Competence.

2. It is important for law students to understand that their professional identity begins now, particularly when they are using social media.

3.  Live Tweeting provides an alternative method of in-class participation.

4.  At least according to the Brits, Twitter is one of the leading ways to develop a client base.  See Twitter becoming key referral source for solicitors, says research from the Legal Futures Blog, June 14, 2012

I'll let you know how it goes with an update post later in the semester.  In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Twitter @reneeknake

(Cross-posted at Professional Responsibility: A Contemporary Approach)

Comments

[Monroe Freedman]

I'm not a twit, or use facebook or linkedin or utube or whatever else, because I find them a waste of time and an invasion of privacy, and I'm not willing to agree to their terms. Does that make me incompetent? (Not a rhetorical question.)

[Monroe Freedman]

Also, I have a great deal of trouble with the verification that's necessary to post a comment. Can we get rid of it?

[Rick Underwood]

Thanks Monroe. I am not alone in my lack of enthusiasm for the technology. I admit I am a Technoincomp; but Facebook is just CREEPY. Also, I can't read the verification codes. Also, it may be my age showing, but I'd rather be incompetent than incontinent.

[Paul J. Burgoyne]

Whether one uses or does not use various forms of social media, being AWARE of them and how they work and the impact they may have on your profession is a good thing. "Knowledge Is Good."

[Rick Underwood]

Knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Nat Turner quoting Ecclesiastes?

Lighten up.

[Rick Underwood]

Know that my comments intend no disrespect to Renee, who was at the Bob Dylan and the Law Conference. That makes her Totally Bueno (something like that). Monroe could have come but he is a Pete Seeger man (so am I, actually, although I am not sure right now that I know how to spell his name).

[Monroe Freedman]

Paul, Both Einstein and Sherlock Holmes agreed that there is no point in cluttering one's brain with knowledge that one has no use for.

If there were anything I might ever want in the social media, I have two granddaughters who would be happy to get it for me.

[Paul J. Burgoyne]

I thought by using the motto of fictional "Faber College" I might indicate I was being "light," if not flippant.

In any event, I was failing to suggest that in the world law students are inheriting, they should know what media are available, and the benefits and consequences of using them. I think Professor Knake's approach is valid and necessary.

As I age, I find myself in a trap once described by Groucho. He said he had difficulty having a serious conversation because he was so attuned to listening for the joke...

[Rick Underwood]

OK. Using my computer skills, I Googled Faber College. That took me to Animal House, which I think I may have actually watched once (part of it anyway) long after its release. Now I get it. This has opened my eyes to all of the valuable popular culture stuff I have missed because of my lack of computer skills.

[Jgmilles]

So you're projecting a live tweet wall behind you during class? What site are you using?

[Renee Newman Knake]

Thanks to all of you for the comments. I think it's worth bringing this discussion up into another post, so I'm working on one that will address some of your points--in particular your question, Monroe, about competence and technology, as well as your question, Jim, about logistics of the tweet wall, etc.