Jack Balkin has a really terrific interview about law blogs and blogging posted on his blog. I just want to quickly flag one thing he writes:
This is the first generation of law students who are going to law school after the rise of the blogosphere. If you went to law school a few years ago, you were totally immersed in the experience of a single law school, and your professors (and the law library) were the main sources of expertise. Now law students can hear legal opinions from law professors and their fellow students around the country-- and around the world-- on almost any topic they desire. The blogosphere becomes part of your legal education. That didn’t really exist before.
That's true, I guess... but is it really true for a significant percentage of the law school population? Like, what percent of law students read blogs on any sort of regular basis, especially blogs written by professors or students actually blogging about the law? I was probably as plugged into the blogosphere during law school as anyone, and even though the content is out there, and there are lots of very smart people writing very smart things about all sorts of legal issues, I'm not sure I read enough of it, and thought about enough of it, for it to really make an educational impact. But maybe there's lots of people taking better advantage than I was. I don't know. But I wonder how big the blog-engaged population really is. I'm sure it's higher among law students than among most segments of the population, but even so -- is it 5%? 10%? More? How many people are noticing an educational difference between the time before blogs and now? I don't have the answer, but I think it's an interesting question.
It's my impression also that the 'blog-engaged' percentage is pretty low, at minnesota maybe just a bit higher than your guess but not by much. Blawgs still haven't reached critical mass yet among the law school population at large, I don't think
It's not something that impacts in-class education much IMHO-- I've only heard students and profs mention blogs in class a few times.
But I am noticing more general awareness of blawgs once students have reached the upper L years and have gotten to know the students who do blog enough to check out those blogs out (which of course can be a gateway drug to more, as we all know). So I think there is more out-of-class educational impact. And I have heard of people not otherwise on the blogosphere turning to blawgs to help them with journal topics and papers in the upper years.
Posted by: Laurel | February 02, 2007 at 11:52 PM
This is interesting... I don't think many of my fellow LSers know about or read any blogs. However, one of my professors is attempting to start a blog and wants to use it as a teaching tool.
Posted by: Amy | February 04, 2007 at 06:04 PM
This law is very essential to human life. I think everybody to follow this law.
Posted by: dragon | May 29, 2009 at 11:56 AM