Yesterday I asked if blogging is dead. That post generated 3 comments and some private e-mail; here then is a follow-up. 

My post yesterday pointed out that Law Practice Management magazine’s issue on marketing technology did not discuss blogging. Dave Bilinsky, Editor-in-Chief, Law Practice Magazine left a comment which I reproduce here:

Bob Seger put it well in his song “Against the Wind” where he said:

“Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out..”

As the Editor-in-Chief of Law Practice Magazine, we run into the problem of what to include – and what not to – in each issue – and a decision to cover one topic necessarily limits the time and space that we can devote to another. It isn’t an easy choice. In the January/February 2008 issue, we decided to cover marketing technology trends, with a particular emphasis on the technologies that are not yet in common use such as CRM systems, Webcasts and online social networking. Blogging, however, is in our opinion, relatively well-adopted by lawyers – just look at the list of Other Blogs of Interest that you have listed on this blog! Social networking as a marketing tool is still in its infancy. CRM systems are not yet well adopted and have some significant hurdles to overcome before they are widespread in law offices. In our opinion, Webcasts are today what blogging was a few years ago.

We are trying to identify trends that are still young. I started my own blog (www.thoughtfullaw.com) within the last year and felt I was a relatively late adopter at that time!

So we do appreciate the feedback…and the blogging interest .. in the magazine. In this issue, blogging was something that hit the cutting room floor. That was an editorial decision and I stand by it. I hope we didn’t alienate anyone as a result. We do ask that you support us in keeping us *(and our readers)* in the loop by continuing to provide us with new trends, ideas and commentary.

Bloggers Jared Goralnick and Doug Cornelius also commented yesterday, sharing my view that law firms do need reminding about the benefits of blogging.

JK at Fluent Simplicity picked up on my post. He agrees blogging is not dead and rightfully credits Mr. Bilinsky for joining the debate, writing:

The ability to provide an intelligent response while maintaining transparency is to be commended. Agencies take note (one development shop in particular): if someone calls you on something, respond and join in on the conversation!

While Law Practice Management magazine may hold a differing opinion on blogs, the Editor certainly understands social computing.

For those who would like to learn more about blogging for lawyers, see also Cornelius’ Blogging Lessons Learned from a Curmudgeon Turned Blawger Feb 20th post and an Feb 19th interview by LexBlog of Cornelius on why blogg.