Here’s a question for any tech-savvy lawyer with a social media presence: Do you know your Klout score? And should you even care?

What is Klout? It’s a website and third-party app that considers all of your social-networking efforts like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and somehow calculates a “score” for how influential you are online. A Klout score of 1 means you’re barely a blip on the social-media radar; 100 means your posts are being retweeted, liked, and shared at breakneck speed.

Companies with products to push are latching on to folks with high Klout scores for viral marketing efforts, while other firms are using Klout scores to weed out candidates for jobs that require social-media skills, Wired magazine reports.

But does Klout have any real-life clout in the legal world?

Not really, it seems, or at least not yet – unless you’re super-concerned about your online influence. (But even highly “followed” online legal entities seem to have mid-range Klout scores: The American Bar Association’s score is 45; SCOTUSblog’s is 53.)

It may be a stretch, but lawyers could possibly use Klout scores to:

  • Influence hiring decisions “based on a lawyer’s Klout in a niche area,” opined lawyer/blogger Kevin O’Keefe (whose Klout score is currently 55); or
  • Identify influential people in a certain industry that you’re trying to break into, and try to build social-networking relationships with those top influencers, O’Keefe suggested.

Lawyers could also look up their clients’ Klout – and warn those with higher scores to refrain from discussing their case online.

For lawyers hung up on numbers, PCWorld offers some tips to raise your Klout score, such as making your accounts public instead of private, connecting your social networks, and joining online conversations – not just sitting there and tweeting out links.

If keeping tabs on your lawyerly Klout score seems like a lot of work, it can be if you go at it alone. But FindLaw can make it easier with our Social Media Solutions for lawyers, which lets you control multiple social-media accounts via one simple tool. Check out our lawyer marketing section to learn more.

Related Resources:

  • Zimmerman’s Lawyer Launches ‘Unusual’ Social Media Strategy (FindLaw’s Technologist)
  • 15 Twitter Hashtags Every Lawyer Should Follow (FindLaw’s Technologist)
  • Addicted to Social Sharing? Maybe You’re a ‘Datasexual’ (FindLaw’s Technologist)
  • Social Media: Ethical Obligations for Lawyers in the Modern Era II (FindLaw)

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