Legal Marketing & PR

Only 6% of Lawyers Use Twitter

By Larry Bodine, Esq.

The big surprise in new survey data by Leader Networks shows that the vast majority of lawyers do not use Twitter or any other micro-blogging service. Only 6 percent of lawyers participate in microblogging (Twitter, etc.) but among these lawyers with too much time on their hands, roughly 70 percent report that they tweet at least once per week.

The survey of 1,474 lawyers was conducted by Leader Networks, a consulting firm that helps businesses foster online social networks. It is the second annual survey that examines the online networking practices of lawyers. A copy of the survey is available online.

"Twitter has not yet caught on, especially among corporate counsel," states the second annual Networks for Counsel Survey. When asked, "What type of social media activities do you engage in professionally?" only 6% said they used Twitter, Plurk or other microblogging services. Even fewer in-house lawyers send tweets: 4%.

With more than 90% of lawyers not using Twitter, and even fewer of their target customers tweeting, the research confirms that Twitter is not useful for business development by private lawyers.  See Twitter's Growth Screeches to a Halt -- It Was All Hype and Twitter Not Effective for Law Firm Marketing for further information.

"Interactive engagement (e.g., blogging, online discussions and article exchange) is more important than other services such as microblogging (e.g., Twitter) or social bookmarking," wrote Vanessa DiMauro, CEO of Leader Networks and author of the survey.

The good news is that:

• More than half of lawyers are members of an online social network, -- up nearly 25 percent over the past year -- with 30 percent growth reported among lawyers aged 46 and over. 
• One third of corporate counsel and close to half of private practice lawyers who participate in public social networks for professional purposes do so on at least a daily basis.
• The majority of lawyers who participate in professional online communities report doing so once per week or more.

Asked, "What type of social media actvities do you engage in professionallly?" here's how the lawyers answered:

Full post as published by Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog on September 10, 2009 (boomark / email).