'Social Media Credential Fraud' Goes Mainstream
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For some time now, Bradley Shear has been railing on his Social Media Law blog about a scourge that he calls "social media credential fraud." Shear observes that some people who wish to hold themselves out as experts in their profession use deceptive social media tactics to create that impression, including sharp practices to artificially inflate their number of Twitter followers.

Back in April, Shear offered an example of one self-described "social media expert" who started following Shear on Twitter. As soon as Shear followed this person back, he un-followed Shear. Shear wrote that

This "social media expert" is desperate to keep his followers above 41,000. I mean Muammar Gadhafi desperate. His whole persona is based on the impression that he is a social media expert and has a large organic Twitter following. If he did not practice Social Media Credential Fraud he would be following tens of thousands of more people than are following him back. Last year, he wrote a blog post that said something along the lines, "I un-followed almost 50,000" people. In this rationalizing post, he stated that he could no longer focus on new followers so it was time to do a mass un-follow.

Shear was not convinced, and charged that the real reason this "social media expert" unfollowed 50,000 people was "to hide the fact that he needs to first follow tens of thousands of people before some of those people he initially followed follow him back."

This week, the concept of social media credential fraud went mainstream after presidential candidate Newt Gingrich bragged that his 1.3 million Twitter followers represented six times as many followers as all the other candidates combined. Like the social media expert discussed by Shear, Gingrich sought to boost his professional credibility by pointing to his sheer number of Twitter followers.

According to an article in Gawker, however, only about 10 percent of Gingrich's followers are "real, sentient people." The remaining million-plus people, the article says, are just a mirage:

About 80 percent of those accounts are inactive or are dummy accounts created by various "follow agencies," another 10 percent are real people who are part of a network of folks who follow others back and are paying for followers themselves. ...

Indeed, one analysis of Gingrich's Twitter following pegged the true number at just over 106,000. Gingrich, of course, denies the claim, saying that it is "a false accusation which will hurt the feelings of 1.3 million people."

Posted by Bruce Carton on August 3, 2011

Court Technology

Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Social Media, SEO, and Haircuts: Enough Already!

Okay, so I’ll admit that you can actually get to know people as a result of using Social Media networking. I have actually met (yes, in person) several people who I first connected with online via professional networking. I’ll also admit that good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can indeed help a website appear higher up in Google (or other) search results. However, it seems you can’t go 2 minutes without being bombarded by the next wave of “adver-articles” on the topics. And, a majority of the news I typically follow is supposedly intended for an audience of legal professionals.

What is Social Media? Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, and even blogs to a degree, are all examples of Social Media. Although there is certainly room for everyone, not everyone wants or needs to be there. What value is a continuous stream of useless information on every conceivable topic to someone who’s just not interested? On the other hand, if one is indeed interested in a specific topic, and wants to gather info and learn from a variety of sources, it can be helpful. A great analogy I’ve heard many times is that it is like a large, fast-moving river of information. If you jump in this river, you can easily be washed away. If you dip your cup and take a sip, you might enjoy it – but only if you’re thirsty.

If you are interested in learning more about social media, get some help from someone familiar with it, or search the term to get more info. One thing to remember, however, is that anything you say can and will be used against you, and that it should be considered “permanent.” Once you post something, even though you delete it, there are ways to bring it back to haunt you.

What is SEO? It is the use of search-friendly words in various places on a website, including the text you read, title of a page or article, and even “keywords,” which although not visible to the reader, are there strictly for the benefit of being “found” in a search. If you need your web site set up with SEO, get some help from someone who really knows what they’re doing -- and, make them prove it to you. Beware of overly-specific terms which will “guarantee” top placement in the search engines. Yes, I can get a #1 listing for “ted brooks litigation tech,” but what value is that? In other words, is it likely that anyone will actually search for that specific term? If so, will they follow up and contact me, based on what they were originally searching for? Try to think like your own potential client.

If you are concerned with SEO and your Google Search results, and you’re not into web development, have your web team or IT department handle it, or get someone to assist you.

If you are a practicing lawyer or busy legal professional, unless you have a lot of free time, trying to learn, master, and practice SEO might not be the best use of your time. Although I might be able to offer “Top Ten Tips and Tricks on How to Cut Your Own Hair,” you may be among the majority who would probably be better off letting someone else handle it for you.

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