Facebook to have one billion users in 2012

Tony Bradley (@TheTonyBradley) of PCWorld reports Facebook is on Track for one billion Users in 2012.

Facebook revealed at its F8 conference in September that it had reached the milestone of 800 million users. iCrossing, an online analytics firm, has examined the trends at Facebook, and extrapolated the growth to project that Facebook will pass one billion users in August — August 12 to be precise…….Here is some perspective. With a billion users, Facebook would be third in population in the world behind China and India. It would have three times the population of the fourth place country — the United States. It took the McDonald’s franchise 10 years to sell one billion burgers, but Facebook is on track to reach one billion users in just over eight years.

What’s it mean for you as an attorney for law firm? That you simply can not blow Facebook off. You cannot say Facebook is for my kids. You cannot say Facebook is for my personal life and LinkedIn is for my professional life.

Facebook has become the town square, the lunch counter, the morning coffee shop, and neighbors talking over the fence. Facebook is where Americans get to know each other better. Facebook is where people build relationships and trust. Facebook is where matters as serious as garnering the support of a small town to find a lost little girl takes place.

Facebook is where Americans turn in the morning, evening, and on weekends to stay in touch with family and friends. It’s where the fastest growing age group is over 55

As an attorney, as much as you’d like, you cannot separate your personal life from your professional life. The in-house counsel and corporate executives using your law firm are more likely to keep using your firm if they get to know better the lawyers doing their work. People hire people they like and trust. That comes from nurturing personal relationships, not just professional networking.

You need not chum it up with clients by exchanging Facebook comments all day or entering into chats on Facebook. A law firm need not have a Facebook page to leverage the power of Facebook. In fact, many law firm Facebook pages look foolish by just kicking out blog posts or news about the firm.

A simple click of the like button to a picture or family anecdote a client shared on Facebook goes a long way.

Sure blog as a professional. Use LinkedIn to build out your profile and network as a professional. But don’t blow off Facebook. It’s too darn big to dismiss.

Love it or hate it, Facebook is part of the fabric of American life.