Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter ... oh my! How extensively do CPAs Use social media?

• Author: Martin, Laura J.

Technological advancements--from email to 2.0--have significantly impacted how CPAs conduct, manage and streamline their work. It's virtually impossible for them to keep up with the large volume of work and communication exchange without the aid of technology. The challenge is deciding which technologies are useful, relevant and sustainable for CPA business processes.

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A 2010 Nielsen study reports that social media has surpassed email in terms of user time spent online. The study shows that Americans spend 23 percent of' their time using social media, compared to 8.3 percent on email. The study also shows that Americans spend almost 25 percent of their time online engaged directly with others on social networking platforms.

Furthermore, a November 2011 study conducted by the Financial Executives Research Foundation looked at the extent to which business executives are interested in utilizing social media and whether they have a plan for dealing with associated security and privacy issues. The stuck reported that 53 percent of respondents take a positive attitude toward the use of social media and see its use in the business sector increasing significantly over the next 12 months. However. 61 percent reported that they don't have a plan for dealing with fraud, theft, defamation, cyber-bullying and privacy breaches.

Questions, therefore, do remain, including: How many CPAs are using social media for their accounting work? What do they perceive as the benefits and risks of using social media? Are the firms they work for willing and ready to engage in social media? Do firms have established technology policies and guidelines? And do firms have plans for how to better serve clients through social media?

Finding Answers

In 2010 we began work on a study; The Use of Social Media Technologies in Public Accounting, with the goal of answering these questions. We surveyed a cross-section of public CPAs working at firms throughout the United States, drawing on responses from professionals at all levels from a total of 46 firms. Here's a summary of what we found.

Of available social media channels, 63 percent reported that they use LinkedIn more frequently. Facebook came in an No. 2 (42 percent). The least used technologies are My Space Twitter. Second Life, blogs and wikis.

Furthermore 28 percent reported that they use LinkedIn several times a month, although only 3 percent reported using it several times a day, suggesting that...