Last summer, I surveyed The Firm’s summer associates to see how they use some of the popular social networking sites: A Survey on the Use of Social Networks and Updated Social Network Site Survey. I ran the same survey this summer to see what changes have happened over the past year.
- 90% of the summer associates have a Facebook account. That is an increase over the 80% result from last year.
- 66% of those with Facebook accounts check it at least once a day. This is the same percentage as last year.
- Only 25% of those with Facebook accounts would use it for business purposes. This a big drop from last year, when 75% said they would use Facebook for business purposes.
- Only 13% had LinkedIn accounts and only 13% have a MySpace account. These are similar numbers to last year.
My take away is that the wave of Facebook users is continuing to roll into law firms and they use it frequently. If your firm choses to block Facebook, you are cutting your junior lawyers off from their network of contacts.
These summer associates do yet seem to grasp the business purposes for Facebook, but may quickly realize that their Facebook “friends” will quickly become their colleagues, clients and potential clients.
You can download the raw survey data: SocialNetworkSurvey2008[.xls]
What is your take on Facebook for law firms? Please leave a comment.
From Terence:
History would counsel that it would be better to embrace change than try to block it. I am sure the law firms in China block Facebook as well.