More social media stats for law firms
When it comes to the latest developments in social media usage, Kevin O'Keefe of LexBlog is one of the best resources around. Go to his blog and subcribe to his feed! Just this weekend, he added two posts that are must-reads for anyone in the legal marketing profession.
And he's not afraid to evolve with the times and trends. Last year, O'Keefe advised his lawyer/clients to stick with the "big three" of blogging, Twitter and LinkedIn. On Saturday, based on the latest stats on the meteoric growth of Facebook, he noted that "more people are hanging out on Facebook than any other place on the net" and added Facebook to this list. "With the world going to Facebook, how can I ignore it and survive as a successul business leader?"
Today, O'Keefe reported on a recently released social media study from the Nielsen Company, which states that the time spent by Americans on social media sites increased 210 percent in 2009 (the increase was 82 percent for global users). The top U.S. social media sites are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Classmates and LinkedIn.
O'Keefe concludes his post by questioning the fact that -- in spite of these statistics -- 45 percent of US law firms continue to block the use of social media and social networking sites.
I agree completely. Law firms need to trust their lawyers to act appropriately in "public." You don't ask them to stay home from "real world" business networking opportunities on the off chance that they'll say something inappropriate. Social networking sites are no different.
A lot of lawyers already know facebook is a must add. The real trick and test is how to use it effectively.