The Power of the Social Media Echo Chamber

Yesterday, Law.com published an article with the headline, Experts: Lower Associate Pay is Here to Stay. It was a provocative headline and one that I continued to see cited throughout the day in the Twitosphere. By the end of the day, I was convinced that lower associate pay was a "done deal". And then I thought to myself, what is the source of my belief? In-depth research? The opinions of the majority of the managing partners on the AmLaw100? No.

The source of these conclusions all boiled down to the comments made by two consultants at Altman Weil. Intuitively, I happen to believe they are correct. I also respect them as a great consulting firm. But I also believe that the authority on which the conclusion is based needs a lot more corroboration.

It's all a reminder to me that social media has tremendous power to become an echo chamber for ideas. Anyone who understands how to take advantage of this fact has a powerful marketing tool at their disposal (and the cost of entry is only your time.)