Resources Global Professionals recently surveyed a group of certified management accountants (CMAs) in Toronto on their use of social media in business.

The results indicate that respondents as a whole are hesitant to embrace social media as a business tool and generally distrust the information posted on social media sites.

The survey was taken by 261 respondents at the annual CMA Ontario Strategic Management Accounting Conference. Participants were primarily from the greater Toronto area and represented a variety of industries and companies.

Highlights of the survey include:

  • 62 percent of participants do not trust the information on social networking sites
  • 58 percent of participants think face-to-face is the best use of time
  • 39 percent of respondents’ businesses have a social media strategy
  • 66 percent of respondents are concerned about the security of their personal information
  • 22 percent follow thought leaders in their industry on social media sites
  • LinkedIn is the most popular social media tool for professional use

“These results indicate that there is significant potential to increase the usage of social media tools by financial and accounting professionals,” said Anne Bell, regional managing director at Resources Global Professionals. “Despite the rise of social media, nothing replaces the value of face-to-face time between clients and professional services teams.”