This is the second of five posts where we look at how print became part of the human social interaction and how the social Internet is very similar.

The basis is from the research of Asa Briggs and Peter Burke and referenced from Wikipedia here.

Asa Briggs’ and Peter Burke’s second finding:

2. Dangerous reading: Reading was seen as a dangerous pursuit because it was considered rebellious and unsociable.

For businesses, one of the main barriers to using the social Internet is the fear of negative comments. While some see them as opportunity, many see them as an unacceptable risk.

If we continue to look at the rise of print and how the social Internet matches, we see this issue is not new. Print allowed new ideas to enter conversations, and as a result, opinions changed about topics that had not been questioned for years or even centuries.

A modern example of previously accepted messages now being questioned would be a company that has been able to tell its customers what the company wanted to say for decades.  Now they must deal with customers who can voice their opinions just as often, just as loudly, and sometimes more effectively.

In my opinion, the solution is to include customers in the conversation. Customers are less likely to attack if they’re part of the message or if they think they can have a direct conversation with the company. Often customers will tell you what they want, giving companies that are engaged with customers a more effective message.