Over the past decade, social media has changed the way millions of people engage both with each other and with the world around them. Connecting with old friends, sharing photos of a recent trip, keeping up with news and trends—each now requires little more than a click of a mouse, or the swipe of a finger. And the global and cross-generational success of platforms like Facebook confirm that this shift is more fundamental than fad. Today, some 80 percent of online American adults use social media regularly, and 52 percent of all Americans have at least one account of their own. Social media is here to stay.
With this ubiquity comes versatility. No longer is the impact of social media confined to our personal lives. Increasingly, it offers opportunities—indeed, even obligations—in the professional arena as well. This is as true for lawyers as it is for any class of professionals. As attorneys, it is critical that we recognize that the most effective—not to mention cost-effective—way to serve our clients may entail the use of social media. This is particularly true for in-house lawyers. A critical component of the in-house role often involves informal discovery—the gathering of relevant facts and information outside of formal, court-supervised channels. Not only does social media afford access to such material, that access is often immediate, generally inexpensive and potentially of incredible value.
