Falco 1

Anthony Falco
Professor Ristow
WRRH: Digital Rhetoric
April 13, 2015 5:00p.m.
Subculture Analysis
Legalonramp.com
In the recent years the advancements made in technology have ultimately altered
how we as human beings perceive society and the operation of the universe as a whole.
Digital technology transformed from what was once a mind bottling privilege in the 20th
century to a dictating governing force in the 21st. Almost everyone now participates in
this new world era dominated by electronic devices and equipment and has accepted this
new technology as an extension of the material world that they are physically apart of.
By having the majority of people participate in digital space the culture they
identify themselves with begins to transfer over into cyber space as well and if it doesnt
a new culture can be easily created. These cultures are constructed within the realm of
mass media and mass media accessibility. Similar to the material world, the cultures that
exist in cyberspace are divided into a multitude of subcultures. For instance, with the rise
of technology in the recent years physical social interaction becomes almost a dying art.
No longer do people have to make eye contact or even share vocal vibrations in a face to
face dialogue with each other, no longer do we have to place the value of our identity
solely in the material world face and body we were given, no longer do we have to even
say goodbye because of the omnipresence we are granted from the technology we
created.

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The emergence of social media can be credited with the new forms of social
interaction that has outsourced the traditional methods this country and world was
instigated upon. Social media comes in a variety of forms and features a variety of
functions, most of which correspond with each other or share similarities. Although
considered a form of social media or more explicitly, online social/professional
networking, the website and application legalonramp.com serves a diverse function than
that of the popular alternatives offered in cyberspace.
When enrolling as a member of the legalonramp community a user is given a
limited amount of options in comparison with other dominant online social networking
domains such as Twitter, Instagram, MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn. These other
domains offer unlimited possibilities in comparison. Domain enterprises like Facebook,
MySpace and Twitter enable users to feel liberated with the limitless opportunity to share
and explore. They could choose their own identity with no restrictions; part of that
identity could even remain anonymous if chosen, something that is not an option on
websites like MySpace and Facebook. The identity potential of users on these other
domains can vary depending on what they personally choose to share on a public forum.
For professional networking sites like LinkedIn and legalonramp.com theses variations
are constrained to the available sections for personal input administered by the domain.
Online social networks or public forums like Facebook and MySpace are websites where users create personal profiles, search for "friends" or "contacts," and create
extensive networks of connections such as friends of friends, acquaintances, colleagues,
Etc. There are more than 300 social networking sites in existence built around many
different themes such as: video-sharing sites, photo-sharing sites, social bookmarking

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sites, music-sharing sites, blogging communities, and all-purpose community sites like
MySpace and Facebook, all of which have emerged in the past decade. Legalonramp.com
emerges as a unique subculture within the cyber culture of social media as one of the
numerous professional networking sites. The constraints set by the legalonramp
enterprise are part of what separates it as its own subculture in the massive realm of
social media cyber cultures and specifically professional networking as a whole.
Legalramp is a subculture of social networking. In fact it is a subculture within a
subculture. The website serves as its own subculture in the realm of social networking
and more specifically online professional networking. It is unlike any other social
networking website and shares minimal traits with the popular professional networking
enterprises. By having its own specific function it can stand separately from its
competition within cyber culture.
These other domains are heavily reliant on the fact that they are a place to
socialize by networking and interacting with other users. They are depicted in ways of
communicating and finding others with similar interest. The content with in can be seen
as miscellaneous. Whereas the constraints of a profession-networking site like
legalonramp.com creates a space where content is formalized and professionalized for a
specific audience, lawyers or those interested in a law centered career. For instance
Twitter enables a follower feature, an aspect that enables other users to view what words
or images you submit to the digital forum produced by the site. Similar to that is
Facebook and MySpaces, add a friend feature, which allows other users to become
friends and have access to indulge in the social life portrayed through photos and post on
their profile page.

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Legalonramp.com is an online professional networking resource explicitly for
business professionals in the field of law. It is different than other social networking sites
like MySpace and Facebook and LinkedIn because it's designed specifically for lawyers
or those interest in law to participate in professional networking, finding a job,
discovering sales leads, and connecting with potential business partners or law firms
rather than simply making friends or sharing media like photos, videos, and music.
Legalonramp.com has its associate feature, which is theoretically similar to the
features on the other two social media domains and even LinkedIns connect feature.
The thing that separates this feature is it is not reliant on the social aspect; it is dependent
on the professional aspect. The associate feature enables law professionals and aspiring
law professions to connect and share interest on a specific career field within law studies
by requiring a very specific profile criteria. It endeavors to create an atmosphere under
the constraints of law professionalism. Legalonramp.com becomes successful off of the
exclusive environment it produces as its own subculture. People in todays world have
attached themselves to the social aspect of social media and now they have found a
more progressive and essential form. The associate feature the site offers has its limits
which is what give it originality. Only can you associate or endeavor to associate with
another person or firm that pertains to law. To even access this feature and create and
account with the enterprise one needs to file very specific information about their law
experience. Unlike the general connect feature on most websites the associate feature
only enables a specific cause.
Its existence is essential because of the difficulty to get jobs and connect with
employers in the present day. College students are graduating every year from great

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institutions finding it more and more challenging to get a job within their field of study or
a job at all. For students that are occupied with their academic and school obligations for
most of the year they struggle to find the necessary time to do the extensive research or
networking and find a job. Legalonramp.com then becomes the ultimate human resource
for law students and other unemployed lawyers to connect with potential employers from
the comfort of their smart phones, tablets, or computers while maintaining time efficiency
like no other site.
Another feature that was coined by leaglonramp was a users ability to provide
feedback. The feedback feature enables a user to give another user a credibility check
for their work and educational history. Feedback such as, internship experience, specific
law degrees, bar examination qualifications and leadership demonstration can be given
and aid in the process of business networking. With the ability for lawyers to connect
based on past experiences and traits that they have particularly excelled the website
becomes successful. No longer are lawyers overlooked for not meeting the qualifications
and no longer does the search for an ally at a law firm need to be in depth.
Legalonramp exist among a few other websites like it. Americanbar.org and
lawlife.com are two networking sites like it. The other two seem to have two completely
different cultures that surface and attach to the domain. Legalonramp exist as a subculture
amongst these other two subcultures. Without the other competing domains online
legalonramp would serve only as a website and not as an explicit community. The culture
provided by legalonramp includes shared values in law, and mainly constitutional law.
The americanbar subculture considers a diverse group of laws with shared beliefs on the
practice of law itself regardless of the specifics. On the other hand lawlife opens its doors

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only to a community that shares values in injury lawsuits only. They uses the website as a
mean to communicate and share information and documents on personal injury law.
The website is significant because it is gradually becoming more and more
popular. The demand for a job finding resources is currently high in today worlds
especially with the growing rate in law and legalonramp.com supplies that demand for
the majority. Its accessible for those who need it and irrelevant for those who done. With
a specified purpose the website and app will continue to gain momentum as it becomes
more useful for a growing population of college students and unemployed law school
graduates. The success rate can be contributed to the exclusive nature of the website
being that it is only compatible for people interest in law. Other profession business
networking sites do not share these exclusive criteria and are more vague about
occupational interest as a whole. By maintaining the integrity of a law only website in the
competitive world of emerging websites it only separates the domain even more. The
subculture Legalonramp creates is diverse from all of the other subcultures that emerge
under the title of professional networking because it targets the specific audience of
lawyers. The purpose of this subculture is to get an explicit group of people, lawyers, to
engage and share insight while also offering career opportunities. By having a place only
compatible for a very specific group it becomes successful.