Millennials or not, everyone wants to know the rules of the game

Let’s start by the beginning, what is a millennial? According to Wikipedia, millennials are the members of the so called Generation Y. That means boys and girls that were born starting in 1982. However, some people extend that date until the year 2000.

So, although I barely pass, I’m a millennial. :p

The concept “millennial” was cooked by William Strauss and Neil Howe when talking about the children born in 1982 and that would go to college with the beginning of the new millennium. In fact, William and Neil published a book called “Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation”  in 2000.

And that’s how the term was born.

What are the traits of a millennial? Generally speaking: a) they are part of the most educated and culturally diverse generation that the world has ever known; b) millennials are politically liberals; c) they experiment some kind of Peter Pan syndrome, so they delay their incorporation to the “adult” world; d) millennials aren’t very religious and; e) they use technology extensively (to the point of being considered “digital natives” almost by default).

Finally, the most important fact. From 2020 and beyond, and just in the USA, millennials will represent more than half of the job market.

Therefore, a millennial is 16-34 years old, with mid-high academic training, that uses plenty of technology and is going to become the workforce of the present and future.

Are they interested in Law? Of course. In fact, they are already entering the sector and some of its traits are going to have a huge impact on the way legal services are provided. For example, they have less “empathy” with the clients. The thing is that in theory millennials are less skilled on the interpersonal communication. So, they are worse for the usual client-lawyer relationship based on trust. The reason is that a millennial focuses more on the digital aspects of communication and less on the face-to-face part.

Which service is the most used by millennials? Snapchat, and the difference is significative.

For those who do not know the service, Snapchat was born in 2011 as an ephemeral messaging app. That means that the content sent through the app disappears once the recipient gets it (with some exceptions). It has spread like wildfire to the point where it has become the social network of millennials.

In June 2016 it exceeded Twitter in daily active users, with more than 150 millions. A user usually spends almost 30 minutes on it. Besides, 60% of its users are 13-25 years old. So, there is no doubt that is the place to go for millennials.

For that reason, institutions and big companies such as the White House, Buzzfeed, People or National Geographic have opened an account to share its content.

Should we create an account?

Taking into account everything said so far, it seems quite logic to go into the world of Snapchat to talk about Law. Obviously,taking into consideration the audience and the service. But after all, registering on Snapchat to talk about Law makes a lot of sense.

In addition, plenty of Law students, the ones that started recently or the ones that just ended their formation, we’ll probably be there.

Therefore, from the Legal LAB of Términos y Condiciones, we are opening a profile on Snapchat to talk about Law and Technology to reach the future, and present, of the legal sector. We are also embracing it as an experiment to communicate and promote legal content beyond the usual formats and channels.

And as every project that we do, this is a long term project. So, there’s not hurry.

Here you can scan our code if you want to add us. User name: lextyc

We snap on Spanish, usually.

What kind of legal content can be shared on Snapchat? Well, we have been trying it for a month and truth be told, the app is quite peculiar. Definitively nothing similar to Facebook or Twitter and with some specific features.

For example, you can’t share links. The moment and the instant comes first (although now you can share old content through something called “Memories”). Pictures and videos are the way to go, and the idea is to improve or transform that picture or video through stickers, drawings and text.

In addition, anything shared will last 24 hours at the most (the “My Story” feature is the best option to share legal content for everyone who follows the account). In fact, Snapchat is another silo of information because everything shared is not stored on the device (at least in theory) and does not exist on Google or any search engine.

Even so, the possibilities are very interesting: visually appealing news capsule, a snapshot of a “boring” text that almost comes to life or small legal stories thanks to the feature “My Story”.

Therefore, quality legal content on Snapchat can be done. Although it needs some planning, it has to be attractive and useful for the audience aimed at.

So, from now on, we’ll use the Snapchat of “Términos y Condiciones” for: useful and visually attractive legal capsules, info and details about legal or technology events that we attend, visual summaries about the terms and conditions of a service or considerations about fiction Law, among others.

Let’s see as far as we can go.

Happy snap!

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La entrada Are millennials interested in legal content? Creating a professional profile on Snapchat se publicó primero en Términos y Condiciones.

Converses TyC: fostering the promotion of legal tech content in Balearic Islands

Nowadays is key to promote legal knowledge in the hyper-digitalized society that we live in. After all, to know the rules of the game is always important.

To share that knowledge beyond the places and venues that usually talk about legal content, and to do it in plain English, is basic too.

Finally, to know the companies and people that work and study new technologies around you, is a necessity.

With this concept in mind, “Converses TyC” is born from the Legal LAB of Términos y Condiciones. The idea is to organize a series of face-to-face events around Balearic Islands to talk about technology and its laws. On one hand the people that work and manage the tech. On the other hand, the people that study and apply the norms.

The purpose is to go beyond Majorca (this is a long term project, so we are not in a hurry). We don’t want to focus on a specific place (there is life beyond Palma). It won’t have a fixed calendar (maybe 6 events per year). It will be free and open to everyone interested (without the need for inscription, whenever that’s possible). Finally, promoting the digital aspects of it (for example, through streaming or shorts videos of the presentations).

Now that the introduction is done, we’ll start “Converses TyC” on July 1st, Friday, in relation to 3D printing, in Manacor and with 3DSOS.

We’ll start at 18:30 with Andreu Pascual Canaves, industrial and technical engineer, owner of www.3dsos.es. His passion is digital design and prototyping. He’s been working for the last three years in the world of 3D printing, initially as a hobbyist, now as a professional. Andreu will talk about the use of the technology on a domestic level or how to prepare a digital archive for 3D printing.

In my case, Jorge Morell Ramos, I’ll join Andreu to speak about some of the legal aspects that must be taken into consideration in relation to 3D printing. For example, what if I decide to setup a 3D printer on my business, a stationery. Could I attend any request from my clients?

Then we will have some time for questions and discussion.

Therefore, “Converses Tyc” starts on Friday, July 1st, from 18:30 to 20:00, in Wohaby Manacor.

Hope to see you there!

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Seguir a @jorge_morell

La entrada The Legal LAB from Términos y Condiciones launches “Converses Tyc” in Balearic Islands se publicó primero en Términos y Condiciones.

We are making an announcement, today. Well, more than one in fact

On the one hand, Terms and Conditions now has an official logo. Hopefully for a long time.

On the other hand, and the important update in fact, we are opening a Legal LAB.

Why a Legal LAB?

First of all, let’s start explaining the idea behind a Legal LAB.

The feeling is that the legal world is not very pro innovation, to the point that sometimes it even avoids the advances that technology can bring to the table (as an example, an article about why the lawyers still don’t trust the email – in Spanish -).

However, it’s obvious that in the legal sector plenty of innovation can happen. In fact, it is essential that it does. Because as in any field or sector, you adapt or die. And truth be told, if that innovation does not come from within, sooner or later will come from the outside and then the change could be more extreme.

Similar initiatives are already out there (Legalitas LAB or the Laboratorio Jurídico from Abanlex). Therefore, to be innovative is a necessity to stand at the forefront. That is why I think that building a Legal LAB can become something useful for the users and who knows, even the sector.

The initiative is modest in the number of human and economic resources available, but nevertheless, I think it has enough to have some impact on the short, mid and even long term. After all, I do not think that you need a lot of money to innovate.

So, instead of being all day talking about legal innovation, let’s make it real with the resources and options available. And let’s see what happens.

It goes without saying that initially the first projects we’ll be developed internally, but that the initiative is opened to external collaborations. Nowadays does not make a lot of sense to develop this kind of project as a lone wolf. Therefore, if someone wants to suggest something, we can talk about it.

The first experiment will be published during October, and hopefully there will be more for the years to come. In any case, all the experiments will be stored on the Legal LAB page, as well as news about the next ones.

I’ve included two very modest examples that were built during the first three years of Terms and Conditions. If truth be told, they are very simple compared to the ones that are coming. But I think that they can offer a pretty good idea about how to develop something different in Law using technology that is totally free. That’s how the Map of Terms and Conditions and Terms and Conditions by Age were born.

And that’s all for today, folks.

To be continued…
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La entrada Let’s experiment! Terms and Conditions opens a Legal LAB se publicó primero en Términos y Condiciones.