Alex Aldridge asks whether online networking sites and blogs can be viable career-forwarding tools for the law community

Fef25ae7-433f-4f97-8d4a-675b942b5281There is a tendency to talk up the career benefits of online social networking. In this parallel universe, anyone serious about getting on in life has hundreds of career-enhancing Facebook contacts who they regale daily with tales from their carefully-tended blogs. This, supposedly, generates waves of business opportunities, coupled with many wonderful nights out, as boundaries between business and pleasure blur. The tech-savvy associate then completes their triumphant march to partnership with an ease unimaginable in the pre-internet age.