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Young adults as likely to use social network as use email

October 2, 2010

Though email remains the most popular Internet activity for older adults, for younger online adults social networking sites are just as much a part of their daily routine as email.

For adults age 18-29, 60% visit a social networking site daily, and relatively the same number (62%) send and receive email daily. In addition, already 39% of the 30 to 49 age group visit a social networking site daily. These are findings of the Pew Internet and American Life Project report on email vs. social networks.

Social network use by adults

What’s the significance of these findings for your law firm?

  • All of your new hires are as apt to use a social network as email on any given day.
  • Nearly 40% of your lawyers in the 30 to 49 age group visit a social network daily.
  • With the use of mobile devices, both in and outside the office, there is no way you are going to curtail your employees daily use of social networks.
  • An increasing segment of your cliental are using social networks daily.

I hear every day from lawyers and law firms like yours that our clients don’t use social networks, that we’re just studying the use of social networking as a means of client and professional development, and that are lawyers are too busy to use social networks. You need to face reality. You need to move beyond your committee for really slow action.

Social networks are becoming a way of life for an increasing segment of our adult population. And that’s good for your law firm. After all, networking, word of mouth, and relationships are the cornerstones of client development for the best lawyers.