This morning, I’m speaking at the annual Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference. The topic: “Social Media and The Administration of Justice.”

Serving on the panel with me are a variety of judges and lawyers concerned about the impact of social media on the law. In preparing for the discussion, I came across these rather intriguing statistics:

  • 90% of IT policies are out-of-date
  • 90% surf the ‘Net @ work
  • 80% use social media to screen candidates
  • 77% use Facebook @ work
  • 70% have rejected applicants based on online info
  • 70% text while driving (which makes you 23 times more likely to crash)
  • 54% ban the use of social networking sites
  • 50% ignore the bans
  • 47% spend more than 30 minutes on-line @ work
  • 25% change security settings to enhance socializing
  • 21% would turn down a social media-unfriendly job

It’s 168% clear that social media use continues to swamp workplaces that haven’t figured out what to do about it. A great place to start is with a reasonable policy that protects employers without driving away Twitter-happy employees. Click here for our FREE model policy, courtesy of the fine folks at McGuire Woods LLP.

(Sources: ManpowerGroup, McGuire Woods, Consumer Reports, Vault.com, The Wall Street Journal, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Harris Interactive, ComputerWorld.com, Fulbright & Jaworski, Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics, Cisco, Clearswift, Jobvite, Microsoft, Virginia Tech Driving Institute)