According to Hitwise research, Facebook is now the most visited website in the U.S., edging out Google. Apparently, we are no longer as interested in finding information as we are interested in "being at the party."
For anyone who thinks they don't need a Facebook business presence, this should certainly be a wake-up call.
And for anyone who practices law or is involved in e-discovery, this is yet another indicator of how important it is to gather evidence from social networks. Two years ago, we saw very little evidence coming from social networks. Today, there is a tsunami of evidence. In fact, divorce lawyers pursue this evidence with nearly rabid fervor as it so often leads to smoking guns. At this point, we've seen social networking evidence in virtually all types of cases.
Since so many people use employer provided computers/cell phones to access social networks, there are also profound risk management issues to be addressed. It has been our experience, from the evidence we've seen, that blocking access to social networks through policy simply doesn't work. And while it can be blocked through technology from computer networks, that simply seems to divert employees to their cell phones, often employer-provided cell phones. Very few employers seem to be blocking (thus far) the use of social networking sites on cell phones.
Of course, given the business I'm in, anything that provides more smoking guns is a good thing. The faster technology moves, the more sources of evidence seem to appear. Great for those of us in e-discovery, but an infernal headache for employers.
E-mail: snelson@senseient.com Phone: 703-359-0700
