Publisher's Notebook

[UPDATED JULY 6]

In honor of Independence Day, Slate ran a contest asking Twitter users to tweet the Declaration of Independence.

Imagine trying to reduce Thomas Jefferson’s 1,300-word magnum opus to 140 characters. Actually, it was using 124 characters; contestants had to include the hashtag #tinydeclaration.

Hundreds of people entered, and Slate noted that the entries fell into two camps – the literalists, who sought to recreate the Declaration’s political flavor, and the humorists, who sought to be funny.

My favorite came from NEHgov (the office of the National Endowment for the Humanities), in the form of a purported message to King George: “Dear George, it’s not you. It’s U.S.”

Slate posted the winners over the weekend.

The third runner-up, “for straddling the delicate balance between the literal and humorous,” came from @Boston1775: “We seek independence based on noble and universal ideas combined with petty and one-sided grievances.”

The second runner-up, hailed “for his direct and confrontational tweet,” was from @TJMonticello (Mr. Jefferson’s own Monticello): “All peeps are equal. Sick and tired of your tyrannical BS. Seeking independence. Your permission requested, not required.”

For “both historical accuracy and a Twitter-worthy modernization of communication,” @badanes took first runner-up: “Our Rights from Creator (h/t @JLocke). Life, Liberty, PoH FTW! Your transgressions = FAIL. GTFO, @GeorgeIII. -HANCOCK et al.”

The winner? A guy called @ApocalyseHow, who was a writer for Conan O’Brien and for “The Daily Show,” according to his Twitter bio. Slate complimented his entry for “reminding us that brevity is the soul of wit”: “Bye George, we’ve got it.”

U.S. News & World Report published a handy list last week: “5 Do’s and Don’ts for College Students Using Social Media.”

While aimed at college kids, this quick and basic primer on tools such as Facebook and Twitter is useful to (A) parents with a kid in college who may not get it yet, (B) law students or new graduates who may not get it yet or (C) younger associates at law firms who somehow got that far without getting it yet.

If you fall into category (A), feel free to send the link to this post to your kid. If you fall into category (B) or (C), you better keep reading.

The U.S. News piece said as many as 79 percent of recruiters look to the Internet for info on applicants. They want a sense of who a job applicant is…what’s she like beyond the strong resume she filed. Job applicants all too often are unaware that they’re being watched by potential employers. That young woman with the stellar resume may have posted Facebook pictures of herself chugging beer at a frat house. Given the generally crummy hiring scene (for new law graduates, it’s as bad as it’s been in a generation), it’s a buyer’s market.

You can look at the full U.S. News article here. But this is the quick version of their list:
1. Do create positive content
2. Don’t post questionable photos of yourself anywhere on the Internet
3. Do Google yourself
4. Don’t post negative status updates or tweets
5. Don’t make your online presence all about you

Most of all, be careful how you present yourself. A tip of the cap to our colleague Dave Rhea, the multimedia editor at Oklahoma City’s Journal Record, for first flagging and blogging about the U.S. News item. Rhea notes in his post that employers are all over the Internet, looking for scoop on prospects.

Drunken snaps from that debauched Spring Break trip to Florida may become, sadly, what he calls an FIL (a Future Income Limiter). So are neck and hand tattoos, Rhea says, but those are topics for another day.

Larry Bodine, a well-known and well-respected law firm consultant, doesn’t like Twitter. He recently kicked up a storm on the Internet, essentially arguing that the social media outlet has little value for law firms.

He was in Richmond earlier this week, talking to the Virginias Legal Marketing Association. I didn’t go, but all my sales staff did and I got a report: Larry remains unconvinced about the service.

Twitter, Bodine said, is like the Macarena (the arm-folding, bouncing dance craze of 1996, for those who somehow have forgotten). Here today, popular today, likely to pass.

I must admit I tweet (@paulfletcher, if you want to follow me), but not all too often.

I logged on today and there was a comment defending Twitter: “Twittering is like hugging. Just because it’s hard to measure the return on investment doesn’t mean there isn’t value there.”

Hmm. Okay, so Larry won that round.