Editor’s letter

I have just typed the word ‘Facebook’ into the Google search engine.

At the time of writing, the second result on the first page reads: “Welcome to the official Facebook Page of Barack Obama. Get exclusive content and interact with Barack Obama right from Facebook.” It is sandwiched between the popular social networking site’s log in page and its entry on Wikipedia.

Clicking on the link, I am now looking at the profile pictures of ‘6 of 1,290,307’ supporters’ (I suppose ‘friends’ might be a bit much). I can browse photos in the album ‘Winning the Democratic Nomination’ and see YouTube footage entitled ‘Backstage with Barrack’. I learn that Mr Obama’s favourite movies include Godfather I & II and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, some of his favourite books are “Shakespeare’s Tragedies” ( me too!), and interests include basketball and “loafing w/ kids”. I am also given his contact phone number, although sadly there doesn’t seem to be a ‘poke’ option.

So, in our internet-savvy age, would Mr Obama’s Facebook page prompt more ‘celebrity’-themed taunts from Republican rival John McCain – apparently undeterred from this line of attack even after Paris Hilton entering the fray with her own political message to the nation?

Well, one would imagine not, as Mr Obama’s profile also allows you to ‘Browse more Politicians’, where many of the world’s political leaders are listed in order of their number of supporters. Second on the list (although with rather fewer supporters – 194,726) is Mr McCain himself. A picture caption reads: “Country First. The official home of John McCain on Facebook”. Here, in addition to the usual photos and interests, the visitor can even play a game application: “Pork Invaders”. The delightful diversion is a space invaders-style arcade game, where America is “overrun with pork projects and wasteful spending”. Basically, the player has to shoot little pigs out of the sky. All good fun.

Clearly, the Facebook phenomenon is one of those pervasive aspects of life in the ‘noughties’ that seems to sharply divide the public and professionals alike. For some it is just ‘a bit of fun’; another useful communication tool − almost a replacement for email really − and a potentially striking marketing channel. To others, it is at best a distraction and at worst dangerous – making people less productive and compromising personal security by encouraging sensitive details to be posted online. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these ‘pitfalls’ are argued most vociferously in the professional sphere, where it is said such sites can damage careers and risk reputations. Nevertheless, the business world is gradually (if in some cases grudgingly) accepting the business advantages too – including engaging with the ‘Generation Y’ that has embraced the medium so wholeheartedly in their personal lives,

Some clearly see social software as the latest fad that will burn out, but in my view it seems to be fast approaching Malcolm Gladwell’s mysterious “Tipping Point” – “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable”. The online space is being shaped by those very “connectors” – “people with a special gift for bringing the world together” – and information specialists (‘mavens’) that it is actively connecting.

So will law firms fully embrace and harness such technology? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that Managing Partner will be benefiting from fresh insight into the many facets of legal technology in future with the welcome addition of Charles Christian to our editorial board. A former barrister, Charles is the publisher of Legal Technology Insider and the well known blog The Orange Rag. I look forward to hearing his views on the many strategic technology considerations law firms are facing.

Richard Brent, Editor

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