Is Social Media Incompatible with Billable Hours?

While social media and social networking seem like promising marketing vehicles for the general public, their utility for attorneys in a system of billable hours could seemingly be less obvious.  After all, many attorneys live their lives in six-minute increments and constantly have to watch the clock in order to provide value to their clients.  Lawyers are uncommonly busy, and within the billable hour system, they often have relatively uninterrupted focus and a "steel trap" mind in churning out legal work.

Given the realities of the billable hour system, where do social networking and new media fit in for lawyers?  It can be difficult to carry on a stream of conversation through Twitter or Friendfeed when a lawyer is billing time.  Is it even ethical for an attorney who is "on the clock" to check Twitter every 15 minutes?

The reality is that internet marketing for attorneys doesn't require a constant connection to Twitter or to one's news feed on Facebook.  Lawyers can check their Twitter and Facebook messages at certain intervals throughout the day and do so without compromising work for their clients.  In fact, Tim Ferriss, who wrote an excellent book entitled The 4-Hour Workweek, might even recommend that attorneys only check social media once or twice a day.  The point is that marketing for attorneys doesn't require a constant connection to the stream of conversation on microblogging services.  An attorney can catch up with, and contribute to, the ongoing conversation of social networking during lunchtime, breaks, and the evening.

I welcome your comments below on whether social media is incompatible with billable hours or the practice of law, and whether it's okay for a social networking attorney to be connected to social media with less regularity than those working in less time-devouring professions.