Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/98946
There are a number of excuses that attorneys use to convince themselves that social media have little use within the legal realm. www.iltanet.org ASSUMPTION: Social media use is for the young ASSUMPTION: This type of networking serves no business function ASSUMPTION: My reputation might be negatively impacted 12 ILTA White Paper TRUTH: While early adopters of social media were the younger generation, social networks are not solely relegated to the 20-something crowd. According to a study by Edison Research, 65 percent of adult Internet users use social networking websites. Furthermore, 55 percent of 45- to 54-year-olds have a social media profile, while one-third of the 65-and-up crowd use social media. These age brackets frequently consist of the key corporate decision-makers who select outside legal service providers, from attorneys to technology vendors. TRUTH: While Facebook does target a consumer demographic, LinkedIn has grown to become a vibrant network of white-collar professionals and corporations. These individuals and entities can leverage the website's unique features to distribute information, inspire conversation and engage other LinkedIn members. In fact, the site has amassed a rather significant following among attorneys. According to a 2012 Vizibility/LexisNexis survey, 97.9 percent of in-house counsel recognize LinkedIn as a directory source for lawyer profiles. The same study also cites that more than one-third of law firms are on LinkedIn and nearly twothirds of attorneys use the site. When firms were asked whether they plan on using LinkedIn in the future, more than 93 percent said they do. Twitter has also grown to become a professional tool. As most reputable reporters and news outlets have moved to establish Twitter accounts, corporate marketers and publicists have begun to use the site for media relations. Meanwhile, some enterprising marketers have even been able to leverage Twitter as an effective business-development tool. According to the site AllTwitter, 34 percent of marketers have generated leads through Twitter, while 20 percent have actually used the site to close deals. And while the legal profession has been slower to make use of Twitter, nearly 75 percent of law firms say they plan to use the site for marketing purposes, according to the Vizibility/LexisNexis survey. TRUTH: The notion that social media may negatively impact an attorney's or firm's reputation is not completely unfounded. Much of what an individual shares on these networks is, by default, public. And while there are features that add layers of privacy to an individual's account, erecting barriers that inhibit people from accessing your profile or the information you distribute across the site can be counterintuitive, especially if the main goal is to network. A good rule of thumb is to avoid posting anything you wouldn't want the general public to see. Furthermore, firms and corporations would be wise to establish a clear set of guidelines that dictate employee usage of social media as a means to help further prevent individuals and organizations from potentially embarrassing themselves publicly.