Last night, I had the privilege of attending QLaw’s Annual Banquet as the guest of Richard Wood and Summit Law Group.  QLaw (aka the GLBT Bar Association of Washington) celebrated it’s 5th year anniversary with over 400 lawyers in attendance, including Governor Chris Gregoire.  The keynote was given by Darren Manzella, a former US Army Sergeant dismissed under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell after two decorated tours of duty in Iraq.  He recounted his very personal experience along with the support of the pro bono organization Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.  Whatever your perspective may be consider this:  in an era where the armed forces are struggling to recruit, 14,000 active and trained service members have been dismissed under DADT.

Back at the Avvocating conference one of the speakers showed an example of a lawyer with a profile on MySpace, which works well because this lawyer specializes in marijuana law.  The speaker noted that other practice areas probably wouldn’t be a good fit for MySpace.

If you’re familiar with MySpace, you understand this intuitively.  But what about people who aren’t? Could a misguided social media rube end up doing the online equivalent of crashing a party full of pot-smoking teenagers?(Picture credit: Royal Pingdom)

Below is a list of popular social media sites that shows dominant demographic groups for each (in terms of age, education, income and gender).  You’ll also find each dominant group’s percentage share so you can tell just how dominant it is.  Monthly traffic is listed as well to give you an idea of size.  The list is arranged by dominant age, oldest first.  Hopefully this will serve as a rough guide to the different “flavors” of social media sites.  You might be surprised by some of the stats (I know I was).

Classmates.com

Dominant age: 45-54 (31%)
Dominant education: Some College (48%)
Dominant income: $50,000-$74,999 (38%)
Dominant gender: Female (66%)
Monthly visitors: 19 million

LinkedIn

Dominant age: 35-54 (56%)
Dominant education: Bachelor’s degree (37%)
Dominant income: $50,000-$74,999 (24%)
Dominant gender: 50/50 split
Monthly visitors: 82 million

Facebook

Dominant age: 45-54 (25%)
Dominant education: Some college (40%)
Dominant income: $50,000-$74,999 (34%)
Dominant gender: Female (60%)
Monthly visitors:  132 million

Delicious.com

Dominant age: 35-44 (32%)
Dominant education: Some college (46%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$49,999 (31%)
Dominant gender: Female (55%)
Monthly visitors: 1.2 million

Stumbleupon.com

Dominant age: 35-44 (28%)
Dominant education: Some college (53%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$49,999 (33%)
Dominant gender: Female (52%)
Monthly visitors: 4.9 million

Twitter

Dominant age: 35-44 (27%)
Dominant education: Some college (49%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$49,999 (31%)
Dominant gender: Female (60%)
Monthly visitors: 21.2 million

Digg.com

Dominant age: 35-44 (28%)
Dominant education: Some college (42%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$74,000 (52%)
Dominant gender: Male (57%)
Monthly visitors: 38.5 million

Reddit.com

Dominant age: 25-34 (29%)
Dominant education: Some college (42%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$49,999 (27%)
Dominant gender: Male (64%)
Monthly visitors: 3.9 million

Bebo.com

Dominant age: 0-17 (43%)
Dominant education: Less than HS diploma (41%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$49,999 (46%)
Dominant gender: Female (66%)
Monthly visitors: 1.6 million

MySpace

Dominant age: 0-17 (34%)
Dominant education: Some college (44%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$49,999 (39%)
Dominant gender: Female (66%)
Monthly visitors: 47.5 million

Friendster.com

Dominant age: 0-17 (26%)
Dominant education: Some college (44%)
Dominant income: $25,000-$49,999 (36%)
Dominant gender: Female (60%)
Monthly visitors: 831 thousand

The above data all comes from Google Ad Planner (except visitor stats, which are from Compete), so if you’re wondering about a site that’s not listed, check it out.  You’ll need to sign in with your Google account to see the demographic data.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Facebook’s F8 conference in San Francisco. While it was an invite-only event, I found myself there with roughly 2,000 of my closest friends. Notwithstanding the non-exclusive-exclusivity of the event, listening to the different presenters, I felt the ground shift a bit. I couldn’t help but feel that Facebook was mounting (and probably succeeding in) an unprecedented revolution in social networking and information distribution.

Facebook has 400 million users and, according to The Zuck (who made me feel very, very old), growing at the fastest rate ever. With this gargantuan user base already installed (and growing), they are now attempting to layer Facebook onto every site on the World Wide Web. As an example, if you go to CNN.com, you don’t need to warm up to their user community, your Facebook friends and their recommendations, commentary, etc., will already be there in a pop-up window riding on top of the CNN pages.

Pretty cool . . . but also kind of scary.

While they did not come out and say this, it is clear to me that Facebook is aiming to be the central nervous system for all things social on the Web. You can probably even drop “social” from that sentence. This goal is cool in that, such a common platform can make it that much easier to share thoughts and ideas with our friends and colleagues. But is also kind of scary in that this common platform could essentially make Facebook the operating system of the social web. Switching costs will become astronomically high and barriers to third-party innovation and entry will be higher.

Now, I don’t want to be too Orwellian here because I want Facebook to succeed. To date, they have been so innovative on the social networking front that, if they keep the monopolistic rents in check, their revolution can be on par with that of the telephone, PC and Internet. It’s just that it has been so long since we have had a single, private company at the core of our connectivity. The last one I can remember is Ma Bell, and we all know how overbearing she was before the courts broke her up. Overweight and obstinate, she told you what to do and not vice versa.

Zuckster – please don’t go there – even when you succeed in your vision and are ultra-Sultan-rich. It’s so much more fun being the vanguard than the prison guard.

Mark

Hartford Magazine partnered with Avvo to power their Top Lawyers Listings. The magazine is on the shelf now, you can also read the list of the top 88 lawyers featured across twelve different practices areas in their online edition.

Here is the recording from our recent free webinar with Jay Jaffe, President and CEO of Jaffe PR. With more than 30 years of experience in the legal industry, Jay offers great insight on public reputation management, the ‘perfect storm’ he sees brewing in the legal marketplace and his thoughts on social media as a fad.

Here is the recording of our webinar earlier this year with Andrea Cannavina -  the LegalTypist. In this presentation Andrea discusses dictation and transcription best practices that will increase and enhance productivity for lawyers, as well as keep their information accessible and secure.

If you’re using Internet Explorer 6 (IE 6), you’re putting you and your clients’ security at risk.  Learn how to make sure you’re using a secure, modern internet browser, and why Internet Explorer 6 is so dangerous.

Internet Explorer’s security holes

Recently Google announced that the Chinese government hacked into political dissidents’ Google-run email accounts.  In the midst of all the spy drama and human rights concern, a small detail was lost on many — what allowed the Chinese to hack into certain gmail accounts was that the owners were using IE 6, a nine-year-old, insecure, outdated, dysfunctional browser.

What’s wrong with Internet Explorer 6?

There are two main problems with IE 6:

1) IE 6 not secure.

You may have heard that you can avoid viruses by not clicking on strange files or downloading strange programs.  That’s true some of the time, but by using a browser like IE 6 you can contract a virus merely by visiting an infected web page.  Hackers often infect otherwise reputable websites as a way to spread viruses.  Once you get a virus, everything on your computer, from your credit card information to your clients’ confidential files, are at the mercy of hackers.

2) IE 6 doesn’t render web pages properly because many websites do not support it.

Youtube, Google, Amazon…the list goes on.  Major companies are dropping support for IE 6 left and right.  What this means is that if you visit a website that doesn’t support IE 6 and you’re using it, the website won’t function properly.  It’ll be like viewing the world through broken glasses.

How to tell if you’re using IE 6

Despite the above problems, people continue to use IE 6 in disturbingly large numbers.  So how do you know if you’re using the dreaded IE 6? It’s simple.  Go to Help>About Internet Explorer.   There it will list the version number.

Better yet, if you insist on using Internet Explorer instead of a better browser, just go to Microsoft and make sure you have the latest version: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

Alternative browsers

Many people prefer to avoid Internet Explorer completely, whether it’s the current version or an outdated one, which is why alternatives like Firefox and Chrome are picking up steam.

I prefer to use Firefox for better security and user experience.  Without a doubt, Firefox has had  a much better security track record than Internet Explorer and, security aside, Firefox also has a multitude of free add ons you can use which aren’t available for IE, like this one which gives you free access to PACER documents.

To download Firefox, just go here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/personal.html

You are invited this Thursday, April 22 at 1:00PM ET / 10:00AM PT to hear from Jay Jaffe, President and CEO of Jaffe PR, discuss the critical importance of Public Reputation Management for lawyers.

As a leading PR firm for mid-size and large law firms and legal associations worldwide, Jaffe PR works to increase awareness and enhance the reputation of its clients.

For the past 30 years plus, Jay has been the driving force behind this for the legal profession, pushing the creative and technology envelope, and encouraging law firms to take advantage of the latest legal marketing, Web 2.0 social networking and PR tools.

You may have heard Jay speak at various American Bar Association and Legal Marketing Association events, so we’re very excited he’ll be with us for an hour to offer some great tips, and answer any and all of your questions.

Sign up here. Hope you can join us!

We are happy to announce the launch of Naked Law, a new blog for non-lawyers.

So why a new blog?

The law affects everyone in countless ways, yet most non-lawyers think of it as a complicated annoyance, one they’d rather not think about unless they have to.  We are proud that some two million people per month go to Avvo when they need legal help fast, but we think we can do better.  We’d prefer to help close the perceived gap between law and everyday life, to lower the intimidation factor, and to increase general interest in law.

It’s a lofty goal, but Naked Law is one way we are working toward it.

Naked Law’s mission

Naked Law will expose the law to non-lawyers in an engaging and informative way, so that people are thinking about, and can understand, the law even when they’re not in legal trouble.   Posts will range from the serious and informative to lighthearted and entertaining.  Subjects will cover money, divorce, crime, politics, and more, but everything will use plain English, be related to law, and expose the law in everyday life.

My fellow Americans, the wait is over. We have heard your cries and today we are proud to announce that Avvo is available in all 50 States, plus the District of Columbia. Yes, starting today, every man, woman and child will have the benefit of Avvo at their fingertips. Need to find a top-notch family lawyer in Missouri? We have you covered. Need to research regarding Criminal Defense in Oklahoma? We have you covered there too.

To get to 50, we have added the following new States: Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and West Virginia. Welcome to the lawyers in each of these new states. You may already be getting business through Avvo; but, if not, claim (or create) your free Avvo profile and see how quickly it becomes a primary arrow in your marketing quiver. Here are a few testimonials to get you started.

On the ratings front, the only thing lawyers have to fear is fear itself. The Avvo Rating is free, unbiased and a great way to set yourself apart. If you have a strong resume and do good work, you will have glowing ratings from Avvo, clients and your peers. It’s really that simple. In this regard, take a look at the top-rated lawyers in each of our new states:

Top-rated Kentucky Lawyers

Top-rated Missouri Lawyers

Top-rated Montana Lawyers

Top-rated Nebraska Lawyers

Top-rated New Hampshire Lawyers

Top-rated New Mexico Lawyers

Top-rated Oklahoma Lawyers

Top-rated South Dakota Lawyers

Top-rated West Virginia Lawyers

I have always ended my state-launch blog posts with something like “more states coming soon!” But I can’t say that anymore. Time to get working on Canada, I guess. ;-) That is, once we have launched Avvo Singles . . .

Mark