As friends, colleagues, and clients documented their Thanksgiving holiday on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it was made clear how big a role social media plays in the personal and professional lives of lawyers. Because it is so prevalent and necessary, social media can also be very overwhelming for many who are trying to maintain their online presence. But most lawyers know that engaging with others on social media is not optional anymore. So should they be posting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, and all other mediums? How many reposts, "likes," or comments are the right amount? What is a good system or management tool for self-promotion or law firm marketing? Now is a good time to take stock of your social media use and try to control it before it controls you.

In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the overwhelming nature of social media, ways lawyers can manage their personal or professional social media, and moving past the guilt of not posting or engaging enough. Kennedy discusses being a "grumpy old man" with the changes in social media that result in ads, sponsored posts, promoted tweets in his various feeds. He also analyzes posting on social media versus consuming information through it and the guilt he feels from not commenting or engaging enough with other people's posts. Mighell breaks down his process which includes writing a blog and then promoting it using what he considers the most important social mediums for lawyers: Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter. Both use a social media dashboard like Hootsuite to manage posting and try to automate the process as much as possible. They also encourage lawyers to choose one or two social media platforms to focus on in order to not become overwhelmed, actually enjoy the process, and have a lot of influence in one place instead of a little influence everywhere. Don't forget, social media information consumption is like dipping a cup into a river and only catching a small sample.

In the second part of the podcast, Kennedy and Mighell discuss their favorite technology gifts and guides for the holiday season. Kennedy reminds everyone to think of the recipient when purchasing tech gifts and keep things practical. Mighell gives some specific gift suggestions including the Moto 360 Watch, Logitech Keys to Go, and Jaybird Bluebuds X Bluetooth headphones as well as gift guides from The Verge and The Wirecutter.

As always, stay tuned for Parting Shots, that one tip, website, or observation that you can use the second the podcast end.

Special thanks to our sponsor, Serve Now.