A survey by Jobscience Inc. found that 60 percent of U.S. companies agreed the next “big thing” in recruiting strategies is reaching a greater number of qualified candidates through social media networks, and 36 percent said they plan to use Facebook more for recruiting this year than last.

The survey also found that 57 percent of companies plan to use LinkedIn more than any other tool for recruiting, according to Jobscience.

“Using social networks to find candidates for current job openings has become a common strategy for recruiters,” said Ted Elliott, CEO and founder of Jobscience. “But the real value of social recruiting is when companies continually engage with people through social networking — so when an appropriate job opens up — the person is familiar with the company and has a propensity to want to work there. It’s about social sourcing and building pipelines of talent — so your talent pool never runs dry.”

The survey included responses from more than 150 human resources and recruiting executives. It was taken in March 2012.