SOCIAL MEDIA 101

Chris Homer & Dan Lear

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SOCIAL NETWORKS

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FACEBOOK

• There are 1.71 Billion monthly active users on Facebook

• 1.13 Billion people log into Facebook every day

• 4.75 Billion pieces of content are shared daily

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FACEBOOK DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES

• Kids leaving Facebook

• Fastest growing demographic is adults ages 35-55

• Behavior is drastically changing

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SLIDE TITLE

• Body One • Body Two

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LINKEDIN

• There are 433 million users • 40% of users check LinkedIn daily • 59% of LinkedIn users don’t use

Twitter

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BEWARE OF “SKILLS”

“Opinion rules that a lawyer may accept an invitation from a judge to be a "connection" on a professional networking website, and may endorse a judge. However, a lawyer may not accept a legal skill or expertise endorsement or a recommendation from a judge.”

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TWITTER

• There are 310 Million monthly active users

• 44% of created accounts have never sent a Tweet

• 80% of users access Twitter via a mobile device

• A day’s worth of tweets would fill a 10 million page book

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HOW TWITTER WORKS

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“FOLLOWING”

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“FOLLOWERS”

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BOTS AND AUTO-POSTERS

• Twitter estimates that 23 million of its active users are actually bots • Tools like Hootsuite make it easy for people to send tweets and

retweet without taking any action. • Are auto-tweets admissible? Federal Rules of Evidence 901(B)(5)

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INSTAGRAM

• Instagram has more than 400 million monthly active users

• More than 80 million photos are uploaded per day

• Instagam’s monthly userbase has grown from 90 million in Jan 2013, to 400 million in September 2015

Users do not need to

approve a tag to be

tagged in another users

photo.

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PINTEREST

• 100 million regular users

• 85% of users are female

• One of the fastest growing social media platforms

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PINTEREST

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SNAPCHAT FASTEST GROWING

• Under age of 35

• Semi-Private

• Discovery Issues

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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

What counts as advice? • Dealing With Unrepresented Person • If the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the

“unrepresented person misunderstands the lawyer's role” • If you are engaged in a discussion LinkedIn and there is a

possibility that the person misunderstands your comments make sure to inform them of your relationship and do not give legal advice. 

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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

Is this Advertising? - Facebook Page Post Ad • Yes • May want to submit a copy of Page Post Ad as Advertising • Keep records of Ads by not deleting them Don’t Imply Results or Mislead • Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services • Don’t say things that could lead someone to expect results • Don’t compare your firm to another like "Our firm is way better than

Smith and Smith" unless you can factually substantiate

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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

• Other Issues • Don’t “friend” potential jurors • Accidental Discovery • Using Social For Discovery • Using Social as Evidence (Competence?) • Advising Clients About Social • Commercial Speech = Advertising

Quiz time!

Remember: Commercial Speech in Attorney Advertising

“an active quest for clients”

ABA Comment 1 to RPC 7.2

Informing, engaging, entertaining, or enlightening? That’s OK!

California Bar: Formal Opinion No. 2012-186

Questions?

THANK YOUChris Homer & Dan Lear

@gngfound @rightbrainlaw