The Rise of Social Media among Inside Counsel

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and other online social media tools continue to grow in their popularity across all age groups and all business types. Although most of the business world has already accepted social media as a valuable communications tool, many in the legal industry were hesitant to embrace the new medium.

However, according to the 2012 In-House Counsel New Media Engagement Survey, lawyers of all ages are utilizing social media tools both in their professional and personal lives. The survey was created by the communications firm Greentarget, InsideCounsel and the legal consulting firm Zeughauser Group, and conducted in November and December 2011,

The survey culled usage data from more than 300 GCs, chief legal officers, AGCs and other in-house counsel. Nearly 70 percent of responders were between 40- and 59-years-old.

Notably, counsel between their 40s and 60s are consuming more content online than they did two years ago.

“In 2010, there was a very clear generational divide,” says John Corey, founding partner of Greentarget. “This time around, we’re seeing a broad leveling off trend across the board. Counsel in their 40s, 50s and 60s are using social media in much greater numbers. It’s a reflection that older counsel are seeing that there is some very useful information and content out there that can help them to do their jobs better.”

From an ADR perspective, this information ties into what we’re hearing from our panelists and outside counsel. There has been a slow, but steady increase in social media acceptance among ADR professionals in general.  We see more activity on LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs. As both social media and ADR continue to grow in their popularity and acceptance across all generations and mediums, it’s only a matter of time before we have more data to share with our readers.