Florida Bar social media efforts connect with members and the public.

Near the end of 2013, The Florida Bar Communications Committee made a recommendation to the Board of Governors to hire a full-time social media coordinator, in an effort to better connect with members by having a strong, consistent presence across a variety of social platforms.

Fast forward to today, and the decision appears to have paid off.

The Florida Bar's social media is now widely seen as the national leader in this arena, earning high praise regularly from the ABA, being featured in prominent law blogs and --just recently--becoming the first state bar in the nation, mandatory or voluntary, to have its Twitter account receive the network's coveted "Verified" blue check mark next to its name.

How, exactly, did this happen? And so quickly, at that?

"In two years, we went from hearing, 'I doubt I would follow The Florida Bar on social media,' to 'You've got to follow The Florida Bar on social media,'" said Vero Beach attorney John Stewart, the Bar's Technology Committee chair who was integral in the initial social media push in 2013. "And that's happened, I think, because we embraced the 'social' part of social media. We encourage members to join our social media platforms not only because it's an alternate source to get timely and important information from the Bar, but at the end of the day, our social media team also gives our members content that is creative, fun, and interesting. It's a great mix of news from The Florida Bar, plus state and national legal content across all platforms."

Currently, The Florida Bar and its entities --including The Florida Bar president, Young Lawyers Division, Law Student Division, and numerous committees and sections--have tapped into seven different platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, and Pinterest. But it's been the Bar's primary accounts on Facebook and Twitter--the two most popular social media platforms in the world--that have seen the most growth and garnered the most attention.

By the Numbers

The Bar's Facebook page currently has 15,000 followers, and the Twitter feed just reached 7,400--plus there is an additional 15,000 followers combined across the platforms maintained by the divisions, sections, and committees. Those stats may seem to pale in comparison to The Florida Bar's current membership numbers of 103,000 lawyers, but it's a significant step in the right direction after a 2013 Florida Bar Membership Opinion Survey revealed a staggering 85 percent of...