Girls In Tech

As we submerge ourselves deeper and deeper into the chasm that is social media, we are beginning to see the affect and evolution IRL (in real life).  The most humorous of these real life interactions is, of course, meeting a person IRL who you know only be their avatar.

It’s a little like online dating.  You get excited about the back and forth, the witty repartee on your social media drug of choice, and develop expectations that the real person will be even better  Sadly the trend seems is to the contrary.  In fact, as I traverse the social media event scene in Los Angeles, I have come across more avatars in real life and come to the realization that my social media induced fantasies have been reduced to little more than pixels.  Of course this is not always the case.  There are many sparking avatars that we come to love as real life people, capable of human interaction, in spite of the fact that their avatars look infinitely better than their real life counterparts (again, much like online dating).

Most recently, I had an experience that exemplifies the growing disconnect between online interaction and real life.  For many weeks I had been tweeting with an avatar who seemed to be in a similar social circle, in fact I had met him many times before in passing.  Many replies, retweets and DMs later, we found ourselves together at an event.  We shook hands, made small talk and enjoyed the evening in close proximity, interfacing with each other and those around us.  The very next day in response to a tweet about the previous night’s event I got a message stating how sorry he was that he missed me.  I thought to myself, “this is why we wear name tags while networking”.  The question is whether we should be offended by this disconnect.  Is it disingenuous interaction or just a slip of social graces more prevalent than ever due to the abundance of communication methods, handles and titles.

The takeaway?  Weblebrities (as they have come to be known), have usually created online personas for a reason.  Leave them there, keep your web fantasies intact and grab an Us Weekly.

Laurel Kaufman
Managing Director Girls in Tech, LA
www.ak-cg.com

Tags: attorney, avatar, business woman, girls in tech, laurel kaufman, Los Angeles, real life, social media
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More and more we all turn to Google for answers to our every day questions.  Dear Google: how far in advance can I buy movie tickets for the new Sex and the City Movie? Dear Google: will vitamin C serum really stop these fine lines around my eyes from getting worse?  We ask Google for answers from our Blackberries and iPhones over lunch.  We ask Google for measurement conversions when cooking – how many cups are in a pint?  We even ask Google for answers to medical questions.  But can we ask Google for legal advice? Google can answer everything else, right? So why not legal questions? Can’t Google lower our business’s legal costs?

True to my attorney-self, I answer: it depends. Yes, Google can answer any legal question you pose and make you more knowledgeable about a relevant legal issue.  No, Google cannot apply the law to your business’s particular legal situation, taking into account the variable factors that inevitably make each legal issue unique; nor can Google identify related legal issues that will arise in the future and help you avoid costly legal mistakes.  Additionally, while there is a wealth of legal information online, only some of it is reliable.  Attorneys are increasingly using websites and blogs as a marketing and referral reinforcement tool, providing basic legal information in their areas of practice and legal updates on emerging issues.  As a result, there are a growing number of attorneys providing sources of legal research online; and when you pose your legal question to Google, Google will faithfully respond by providing you a list of links to numerous potential answers, including links to these websites and blogs.

When determining the reliability of a legal resource on the Internet, use common sense.  The best sources of legal information are on state and federal government websites and state bar association websites.  Both of these sources provide information which can be very helpful for businesses in a variety legal practice areas.  For example, The State Bar of California’s website provides information on bringing a case in small claims court, which is often an effective recourse for recovering outstanding unpaid accounts.  State and federal government websites also generally have business portals, combining online business resources, including legal resources, in one place on their websites, such as the U.S. Government’s Business.gov.

When viewing legal information on individual attorneys’ and law firm’s websites, take a look at the attorney profiles to give you a sense of who is giving you the advice and what their experience is.  Most of the largest law firms, which charge many hundreds of dollars by the hour for their legal advice, frequently post articles about emerging legal issues in just about every area of the law.  Because these law firms are protective of their reputations and tend to hire highly qualified attorneys, their websites and blogs can provide a reliable source of legal information.

At the end of the day, however, actual human attorneys are in a better position to answer your legal questions than Google, although Google can certainly make you a more legally savvy business woman.  

Tags: attorney blogs, attorney websites, blackberries, business woman, girls in tech, Google, iphone, legal, legal information, Meredith Davis Williams, State Bar of California
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