How Social Media Can Help Students Engage With the Legal World During an LLM Degree

Social media can actually be a great tool for legal students

In the right hands, social media can help people gather information and build professional contacts in their field. Social media can be especially beneficial to LLM students, allowing them to access up-to-the-minute legal news and helping them track down future opportunities.

While many cast doubt on public student accounts - especially given the scrutiny of future employers - judicious social media users gain unique insights and opportunities. From professional profiles to personal development, social media helps LLM students engage with current affairs and build their careers.

Are you curious to find out how LLM students benefit from social media? Read on to learn more.

Social Media Accounts Help Students Follow Important Legal News

Offering mass connectivity and instant updates, social media has transformed how students and professionals engage with news. Legal students have much to gain in this regard, given a constant flurry of legal news from around the world.

Establishing their presence online, students can turn to social media for instant updates on high-profile cases or new legal precedents. Knowing the latest legal news can help students immerse themselves in their studies - and engage with peers and tutors on the most important issues of the day.

Twitter and Facebook are especially helpful in alerting students of 'trending' news items - and the many opinions they stir. Like all online users, of course, legal students are advised to be vigilant in the face of dubious sources and 'fake news', ensuring the veracity of news items before commenting or sharing them. In addition to trustworthy or 'certified' news accounts, students may choose to get their updates from official applications like the BBC News app.

Social Media can provide the latest updates on Supreme Court decisions

Students Build Professional Networks during their LLM Degree

Online activity also helps students build a professional profile while pursuing their Master's Degree in Law. From prominent lawyers and academics to departmental accounts, following the right people on Twitter can help LLM students connect with future opportunities in their field. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can also alert students to upcoming lectures and publications, helping students engage more thoroughly with legal academia while in school and beyond.

While Twitter is especially helpful for engaging with the wider legal world, LLM students might also turn to platforms like LinkedIn to offer a more exhaustive list of their personal histories, qualifications and interests.

Again, judicious social media use is essential. Before sharing, 'liking' or commenting online, students should consider how their actions would appear to future employers, many of whom will search for seemingly negligible differences between competitive candidates.

Social Media Can Help Students Log Personal Development

Provided they avoid inflammatory or troublesome remarks, students should not be afraid to express themselves on the legal subjects they encounter in their LLM degree. In fact, personal blog platforms can showcase professional and academic passions, helping students clarify their thinking - especially when explained to an uninitiated audience. Legal experts also consider judicious blog posting a great way to log personal development - a record of one's early interests and passions that might be retrieved throughout the highs and lows of a career.  

In addition to written blog platforms like WordPress and Blogger, students may choose to video blog - or 'vlog' on YouTube. Vlogging helps students convey their passion and personality, chronicling their time as legal students and future professionals. These videos can be a great source of professional exposure, attracting a network of followers keen to like and share them to a larger audience.

Blogs and 'vlogs' can highlight professional passion to future employers

Are you hoping to launch a legal career with a leading online LLM programme?