I regularly visit a website called The Social Organization and today I read a compelling piece about why some people, particularly in the business world, are resisting social media.  

I find this online community, businessrelationships.com, very valuable because it's a place for businesspeople to discuss news and issues, ideas or anything related to business-- to be involved in the online conversation.  The rest of the world is participating in digital discussion, but some fields, especially those in business and law, are lagging.  They are resistant.

Rachel at The Social Organization has written a blog entry, part of which I have re-posted below, that addresses this.  She calls it the "Social Media Fear Factor."   

Read the full post on her website.

"For social media enthusiasts, it is sometimes hard to understand the trepidation and anxiety that social media engenders in others, particularly in the business world. The truth is - and this is coming from someone who is pretty immersed in it - social media does a lot of exposing. There are not only a lot of potential critics out there, there are also a lot of prospects and competitors out there. If you are not on your best behavior, they may see you at a moment of weakness and they may not stick around to see if that is who you really are or not.

thesocialorganization.com, The Social Organization, Sep 2009