Do Real Lawyers Use LexMonitor?

Kevin O’Keefe of Real Lawyers Have Blogs has started a “new thing” called LexMonitor.  As it’s become more popular, and more necessary, to use blawg aggregators to keep track of the ever expanding universe of the blawgosphere, Kevin is (as usual) trying to get in as early as possible.  Kevin, like me, is a cutting edge kind of guy.

So Kevin put Rob LaGatta on the job.


It’s Friday, and so far I’ve been spending most of the morning reading through hundreds of law blog posts and tagging them with relevant keywords or phrases. The experience has been interesting: not only have I been able to size up the 1600+ blogs in LexMonitor to determine their quality, focus and author’s voice, I’ve also been able to get a better grasp on what legal issues are being discussed and why.

So who are these 1600+ blogs in LexMonitor and how has Rob tagged them to make this service work?  I decided to check it out.

On the front page, there are a total of three blog posts:


Law held hostage in essay on presidential politics

The CJR series “Turning Point” on press coverage of the presidential election turns to coverage — or lack of it — of likely Supreme Court appointments. Writer Zachary Roth, former media editor at the New York Observer and writer at Washington Monthly, has the politics and media smarts to weigh in…

Looking at Trial Preparation and Office Management With a Mac

– I just read the article posted on the 16th, from well-known Mac user Kern Lewis. Mr. Lewis goes through his set of reasons to switch to a Mac and, like any great trial lawyer, makes a very cogent case. The title of the article is Trial Preparation Made Easy With Macs and you can read it here. I jus…

SOS FOR IOWA LAWYERS

I turn the mic over to Tom O’Connor, and his TechnoGumbo blog: Ernie Svenson has a post on his blog today with pointers to the Linn County Bar Association which includes Cedar Rapids, a city hard hit by the recent flooding and location of the Linn County District Court. Despite the flooding, the…

The second of the three posts on the front page is from a blog called Criminal Defense Law With An Apple.  Granted, I could be missing something, but is there really a demand for this?

I decided to try the tag for New York to see what came up. Aha!  There were four posts, two from personal favorites blawgs, Randazza at the Legal Satyricon and Dan Hull from What About Clients?  There were also posts from Adam Smith, Esq. and Norovirus Lawyer.  So here’s my question:  What does this have to do with New York?  I know that neither Randazza nor Hull are New York lawyers, or post about New York topics.

A while back, I had expressed concern that Kevin’s LexBlog was a bit insular.  To Kevin’s credit, he’s made great strides in making LexBlog a part of the Blawgosphere rather than isolating his stable of blogs from the rest of the universe.  It was smart for the business and good for the blawgosphere.

As the blawgosphere grows in various directions, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with both good posts, particularly from blawgs that don’t post on a daily basis, as well as new blawgs that come on the scene.  While I use RSS feeds to keep track of a fairly broad group of blawgs, even this is becoming overwhelming, and it doesn’t help me to find new ones.  So the idea of LexMonitor, much like AllTop, offers something that should help.

Unfortunately, LexMonitor isn’t cutting it.  If this is what Rob La Gatta thinks are the top posts in the blawgosphere, then he needs to get out more.  Moreover, if this is how LexMonitor is planning to tag blawgs, then he needs to either take less (or more) sips of his martini before going to work because as of now, it’s so far off base as to be useless, bordering on the absurd.

While I can understand why there may be an inclination toward promoting LexBlog blawgs, and I can’t criticize Kevin for trying to gain some organic synergy from his various products, it has got to have a wee bit of credibility if it’s going to be of any use or interest to anyone else.  At the moment, I’m not seeing any, which is a shame. [Edit: After further thought, I think this paragraph is unfair to Kevin and Rob, so I retract it. In fact, as I read it now, I have no idea what my message was.  Forgive me. It happens]

And this seems like a decent opportunity to raise another issue, one that probably troubles Kevin a bit as well, though it would be inopportune to mention it.  The roll of blawgs that are supposedly covered by LexMonitor contains many that have nothing to do with LexBlog and represent some of the best work in the blawgosphere.  Others, created via LexBlog, are there as well. 

Some of these, and I’m not naming names because they didn’t ask for it and they don’t deserve a gratuitous slam, carry terribly pretentious names.  But they stink.  They are just plain awful.  Whether because they are flagrant self-promotional blawgs, or they post once every month or two, or they just plain suck.  I bet Kevin wishes he could take back some of the more pompous names so that he could use them for blawgs that would reflect a whole lot better on LexBlog, but it’s too late for that.

The credibility of LexMonitor isn’t going to bring down the credibility of the blawgosphere itself.  It’s just not yet worthy of that degree of weight.  But it isn’t going to help anybody, and just provides more flotsam and jetsam in a blawgosphere that has become increasing difficult to navigate with all the junk floating about. 

It’s not that I’m against new entrants into the blawgosphere.  In fact, I frequently welcome them.  But I have a problem with the pipeline getting clogged with crap that will make people turn away from the blawgosphere because it appears to offer nothing useful and serves only self-promotion.  This will harm businesses such as Kevin’s as well, and it’s in his interest to get his customers on track as well as produce content that serves a purpose.  LexMonitor has the potential to do so, but doesn’t. 

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17 thoughts on “Do Real Lawyers Use LexMonitor?”

  3. Anne

    How much time do people have in the day?

    I don’t even have a day job and *I* don’t have time to read many blogs.

    Most of the ones I read are either in Ex Linkus (which I try to keep very short, in fact most listed there are not even blogs but resources), or featured in Blog of the Week(end). BOTWE is getting harder to do each week!

    We’re listed in some of these (ABA Journal, e.g.) but not others. We’re on a fair number of blogrolls. We’re only 6 months old! I don’t sweat these. Yes I’m addicted to the stats, but I don’t care much about these mega-listings.

    The real questions: are there too many blogs? (Yes!) Does the world need another one? (No!)

    Two things keep me going: 1) encouragement from others, and 2) I’m having a blast. If either stopped (most likely #2, though they could happen simultaneously), c-o-r would disappear.

  4. Gideon

    I don’t think there are too many blogs. That’s like saying there are too many people in the world (well…)

    More people, more voices. I’m all for it. Even the sucky ones. Just don’t make me read them.

  5. Kevin OKeefe

    Thanks much for the feeback Scott. We need it and appreciate the time you took bouncing around the site. More than just saying we hear you, we’ll take action on the feedback and report back.

    LexMonitor does indeed need a lot work. I also knew that taking it live like we did on Friday would get us the feedback we needed from all sides to make needed improvments and feature enhancements.

    When LM was in beta testing behind closed doors, we got some feedback but it was not enough. We knew by taking it live we not only would look at things with a closer eye, but that folks like you would give us direction.

    No extra credit, if you will, is being given to LexBlog clients. LexMonitor will only serve the greater good if we act with as much jouranlistic integrity as possible.

    And Gideon, word is in to get your blog added asap.

  6. SHG

    I fall between you and Anne.  I’m all in favor of new blawgs, provided they’re good.  More crap blawgs just clog up the pipes and drive people away from the blawgosphere.  But that’s just my view.  Others differ.

  7. SHG

    I noted specifically that there was no favoritism of LexBlogs in the listing, and that does show the integrity of what you’re trying to build.  The nitpick is that some of the LexBlogs included in your list are essentially dead and offer nothing to the blawgosphere, but we’re discussed this before and I know that you are trying your best to get your clients to engage more and start blawging in earnest.

    I meant the feedback constructively, and I’m glad you took it that way.  I think your concept is good and helpful.  Now let’s tune up the execution and you’ve really got something.

  8. Gideon

    Kevin, I agree with much of what Scott wrote. Adding something only trivial, I’d like to see a bit more color on the page.

  9. Kevin OKeefe

    Agreed Scott, we need to give some of our clients a kick in the behind.

    I’m hoping that in the case of all law bloggers, including our clients, we can use LM to elevate some their contributions.

    It becomes real obvious on LM that blogging with the law firm as the author, as opposed to individual lawyer names, is pretty lame.

  10. Kevin OKeefe

    Thanks for feedback Gideon, keep it coming.

    Got your blog in LM already. Now we need to get you a profile, even though anonymous. Your contributions to the net are valuable.

  12. Rob La Gatta

    Scott,

    I just wanted to clarify something: the posts on the front end of the site that you saw aren’t necessarily those that I consider to be the “top in the blawgosphere” (there is a strip of four posts that goes across the very top of the page, featuring what I think are recommended reads and actually brings the total number of outside posts on the front page to seven…but that’s something different entirely).

    Instead, the three entries you see – with clusters of related posts beneath them – are ones that our system has identified as being hot items of discussion (due to the number of links being generated between them). While it does require a certain degree of editorial touch (I can promote/demote clusters as I see fit), it’s usually interesting to let it do its own thing as much as possible and show us naturally what’s generating discussion.

    When it comes to tagging, that’s an issue we’re playing with as we go. Right now we’re drawing in both the tags generated by the original author, as well as our own. Where we take this in the future – get rid of all original user tags and only rely on our own? Find some better way to strike a balance? – is something I’d love to get your insights on.

    Thanks for checking out LexMonitor, and for the feedback.

  13. SHG

    Rob,

    If that’s what’s coming up as “hot” items, then LM holds no interest for me.  Of the new posts shown, you’ve got one from Gideon from 6/12.  Now I love Gid, but 10 days old?  If this was a heart monitor, the patient would be dead.  As for the three prime blowgs “due to the number of links being generated between them,” who are you kidding?  They sucked. 

    And then on the Crim page, your first post is Jamie’s, “Blawgosphere” Becomes a Word.  Now as much as I enjoy Jamie’s stuff, I think we can all agree that this is not one of his deeper ones.

    Then we have yet to figure out how Florida and California blawgs get tagged for New York.  Please don’t tell me Marc and Dan did it, because I know they surely didn’t.  So don’t blow too much smoke, because it’s pretty clear that there wasn’t a single new post of interest in the bunch.  Tell me they were all randomly generated and I believe you.  Tell me anybody “selected” them and I’ll call you a liar.

    Rob, it’s your job to make this work, not mine.  I’m not seeing much effort here.

  14. Kevin OKeefe

    No doubt we have work to do. Collecting info on bugs and making corrections on Sunday should be an indication that we’re going to try.

    Most recent posts not displaying is being looked at. As are other items.

    It’s been hard for me to adjust from a law practice where every thing was expected to be precise to to a tech and entrepreneurial business environment where things are pushed out before they are perfect.

  15. SHG

    I didn’t doubt your intent to make it better.  Rob’s explanation, well, that’s another story.  Let me know when you got the bugs out.

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