*Facebook represents an opportunity
for lawyers to bring access to legal services.
Computer scientist and author, Jaron Lanier, in a
ballyhooed op-ed in the Guardian, challenges us all to delete
Facebook.
Lanier was no fan of Facebook before (having already urged
people to delete their social media accounts), but after Cambridge
Analytica he saw it the perfect time to challenge everyone to beat
the addiction, make a political statement, and redefine their
social lives.
The problem for lawyers is that Facebook represents the
opportunity to engage the public where they are and on their
terms.
Like it or not, lawyers have an ethical obligation to make legal
services accessible to people — not just to the impoverished, but
to middle-income individuals and small business people. To do this
as a lawyer, you not only need to go where the people are, but you
need to establish trust by listening, sharing, and nurturing
relationships.
More people spend more time on the Internet on Facebook than any
other place. Social media, Facebook included, represents the town
square, the coffee shop, the church group, and the civic board of
today. It’s where lawyers establish enough trust and value in
people’s minds that legal services, at least though a lawyer,
remain a viable answer for consumers and small business people.
Lawyers jumping off Facebook can do so out of fear (perhaps
legitimate) or to make a political statement, but by doing so they
are turning on the public they serve. Access to legal services will
only decline.
Lanier says:
Before Facebook, there were ways to do most of the things
that Facebook allows, and there still are. There are other ways to
keep up with friends, be informed, discover local events, announce
your own life events, publish opinions, meet new people, and so
on.
That’s simply not true. Before Facebook, lawyers did not have a
forum for such engagement with the public. A forum that enables
lawyers to bring access to legal services by establishing trust and
demonstrating value.
Lest you think the public is bailing on Facebook en masse, I
expect you’ll find that the vast majority of Facebook users still
find the social network integral to their social, community, and
professional life.
In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, while apologizing and promising
changes protecting privacy, in a conversation with the New York
Times’ Kevin Roose and Sheera Frenkelcommented on the “Delete Facebook”
hashtag campaign on Twitter.
I don’t think we’ve seen a meaningful number of people act
on that, but, you know, it’s not good. I think it’s a clear signal
that this is a major trust issue for people, and I understand that.
And whether people delete their app over it or just don’t feel good
about using Facebook, that’s a big issue that I think we have a
responsibility to rectify.
There’s much not to like over what we’ve discovered the last
week, but my former rector, agreeing with my sentiments on
Facebook, may have said it best, “Facebook remains a true option
for something good. But it’s harder to say so.”
For access to legal services, Facebook is more than an option,
Facebook represents an opportunity for lawyers to bring access to
legal services. As such, lawyers have an obligation to see the
storm through.
Culled from abovethelaw.
*Facebook represents an opportunity
for lawyers to bring access to legal services.
Computer scientist and author, Jaron Lanier, in a
ballyhooed op-ed in the Guardian, challenges us all to delete
Facebook.
Lanier was no fan of Facebook before (having already urged
people to delete their social media accounts), but after Cambridge
Analytica he saw it the perfect time to challenge everyone to beat
the addiction, make a political statement, and redefine their
social lives.
The problem for lawyers is that Facebook represents the
opportunity to engage the public where they are and on their
terms.
Like it or not, lawyers have an ethical obligation to make legal
services accessible to people — not just to the impoverished, but
to middle-income individuals and small business people. To do this
as a lawyer, you not only need to go where the people are, but you
need to establish trust by listening, sharing, and nurturing
relationships.
More people spend more time on the Internet on Facebook than any
other place. Social media, Facebook included, represents the town
square, the coffee shop, the church group, and the civic board of
today. It’s where lawyers establish enough trust and value in
people’s minds that legal services, at least though a lawyer,
remain a viable answer for consumers and small business people.
Lawyers jumping off Facebook can do so out of fear (perhaps
legitimate) or to make a political statement, but by doing so they
are turning on the public they serve. Access to legal services will
only decline.
Lanier says:
Before Facebook, there were ways to do most of the things
that Facebook allows, and there still are. There are other ways to
keep up with friends, be informed, discover local events, announce
your own life events, publish opinions, meet new people, and so
on.
That’s simply not true. Before Facebook, lawyers did not have a
forum for such engagement with the public. A forum that enables
lawyers to bring access to legal services by establishing trust and
demonstrating value.
Lest you think the public is bailing on Facebook en masse, I
expect you’ll find that the vast majority of Facebook users still
find the social network integral to their social, community, and
professional life.
In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, while apologizing and promising
changes protecting privacy, in a conversation with the New York
Times’ Kevin Roose and Sheera Frenkelcommented on the “Delete Facebook”
hashtag campaign on Twitter.
I don’t think we’ve seen a meaningful number of people act
on that, but, you know, it’s not good. I think it’s a clear signal
that this is a major trust issue for people, and I understand that.
And whether people delete their app over it or just don’t feel good
about using Facebook, that’s a big issue that I think we have a
responsibility to rectify.
There’s much not to like over what we’ve discovered the last
week, but my former rector, agreeing with my sentiments on
Facebook, may have said it best, “Facebook remains a true option
for something good. But it’s harder to say so.”
For access to legal services, Facebook is more than an option,
Facebook represents an opportunity for lawyers to bring access to
legal services. As such, lawyers have an obligation to see the
storm through.
Culled from abovethelaw.
Read more https://nairalaw.com/lawyers-have-an-obligation-to-stay-on-facebook/