Do you remember way back when the Federal government was eyeing Facebook with extreme caution? I guess it's an understatement to say, "How fast things change." A Federal government media survey, released today, shows that social networking has become increasingly mainstream. More than half the government's management-level employees use Facebook, and of them, most use it for work.

The 2011 Federal Media and Marketing Study, a collaboration of Market Connections, Inc. and Sara Leiman, VP, Media, TMP Government,  reveals a significant "surge" in the use of social media. According to Lisa Dezzutti, president of Market Connections Inc., which conducted the survey, Facebook is leading the rush.

Of more than 3,000 government employees who responded, 54 percent said they use Facebook, compared to 39 percent last year. Only a fifth of those, however, said they log in to the seven-year-old social networking site at least once a day. Forty-five percent said they use it for work and personal purposes, 49 percent said they use it only for personal purposes, and 6 percent said they use it exclusively for work.