Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
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If you have been wondering about Google Plus, then I highly recommend you follow your gut instinct and start learning more, quickly. Google Plus is already teeming with very active attorneys having extensive personal and professional discussions, all hoping or believing that Google is watching them. With high hopes of rising in the SERPs, many have also found an engaging community of fellow lawyers, almost by accident, and developed real friendships along the way. To me, the “feeling real” aspect of Google Plus is what truly sets Google’s burgeoning social media platform apart.
Google Plus Hangouts Make G+ Different
One decidedly unique aspect of Google Plus is a feature called “Hangouts.” This is essentially a web cam conferencing app, built into Google Plus, and available for free to anyone with a Gmail account.
G+ Hangouts Come In Various Shapes & Sizes
Hangouts come in several varieties. The first is called a “Hangout On Air,” which streams live to the public and is posted later on YouTube (so anyone can either watch the show live, or via replay, unless you delete the show from your channel after the live broadcast). The second are regular “Hangouts,” which basically allow you to “hangout” privately with anyone, anywhere in the world, with the click of a few buttons on Google Plus, via either webcam or live chat. Imagine making a bunch of new attorney friends, across the country, and solidifying those friendships via live web cam interactions. That is exactly what I have been doing for the last several months. What could possibly feel more social than looking straight at the person on the other end of your social media posts and talking to them?
My Venture Into G+ Hangouts For Lawyers
I am a Florida personal injury attorney who joined Google Plus late Fall last year, with high hopes of further spreading the word online about my practice. After a couple of months, I discovered the hangout feature of Google Plus. I watched a few “influencers” (i.e., popular people on Google Plus) conducting these hangouts and was amazed to discover how real the online interactions felt when watching their shows. Those appearing live in the hangouts felt more like friends of mine than others on G+, even though I had never actually met any of them. I could put a name, face, voice and even mannerisms together with their written posted content.
Calling One Of My New G+ Attorney Friends On A Whim
Since I had become seriously involved in Google Plus by that time, and had developed a pretty good following myself (at least in comparison to other lawyers), I decided to call an attorney who had become my friend on G+, Stephan Futeral, to ask whether he would be interested in having a live weekly show by lawyers, primarily for lawyers, on Google Plus. He enthusiastically said yes in less than a second. He also thought of the name of our new show, which is Legally Speaking.
Tomorrow I’ll explain the learning curve for live Hangouts.
