Over at PR Squared, there’s a great post about why some public relations professionals haven’t been too quick to adopt social media practices. Many claim their clients aren’t ready, so there’s no need for them to have a presence on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking Web sites.

“Newsflash: it does not matter if your clients aren’t ready.  The mainstream media are ready,” wrote PR-Squared’s Todd Defren.

When’s the last time you watched a sporting event or the nightly news without a mention of Twitter? Countless athletes and reporters are immersed in the site and the so-called “mainstream media” have embraced it. (For the record, I hate the term “mainstream media” becuase I think it’s basically lost all meaning. But that’s another post for another day.)

Are your members on Twitter? Are they on Facebook? With each day that passes, there’s a greater likelihood that they’re active on one, the other or both. So why shouldn’t the organization itself have a presence? It’s easy to create a fan page on Facebook and allow members to interact there. A Facebook group is also an option — check out this great post for the pros and cons of each.

The Lupus Foundation of America, for example, was recently featured on Smart Blog for Social Media for its success generating donations via the Internet. Using Facebook, the LFA increased its donations by 790 percent. It requires constant engagement with users and members, but it’s absolutely possible to achieve results using social media.

Find out where your members predominantely are and create a profile for the organization. Personally, I prefer Twitter simply for its real-time search features and ability to quickly share information and links — things become viral very quickly thanks to “retweeting” and also due to how rapidly Twitter itself has grown.

Going back to the PR-Squared post, does it matter if your members already active online? It makes establishing a Web presence for the organization a little easier, but it could also make those late majority adopters (and laggards!) more amenable to using Facebook or Twitter.

There’s a wealth of information out there for association members, and it’s up to the organization leaders to share it all with their members in the most effective way possible — social media isn’t going away any time soon.

Let’s face it: social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s not a passing trend, but it is an evolving one, and if your organization or group doesn’t have an online presence, it probably should. It’s important to keep your group visible and stay abreast of what’s going on in the industry.

But even if your group doesn’t have an official Twitter page or Facebook fan page yet, you can bet your members and people involved are at least somewhat active online! Unfortunately, they may not be presenting the organization in the best possible light. Sure, there are tons of filters on Facebook (Twitter, not so much), but not everyone uses them to the best advantage.

It’s important to keep a policy fluid — social media and communications are changing at a rapid pace, and a policy that’s too stringent can be suffocating for your members.

It’s not 2002 anymore, and the lines between our personal and professional lives are blurring. Sure, it’s still acceptable to fire someone for writing negatively about the company or work experience, but employers now are realizing that people are going to be on Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites, so their policies have to adapt to accept that.

On social networking sites, nothing is ever really private — a judge could easily issue a subpoena ordering the company to reveal protected information. It’s important to convey to your members or employees that they must be responsible for what they write on the Web. If they have a personal blog, they should include a disclaimer such as, “”The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent so-and-so-group’s positions, strategies or opinions.”

Have a unique and real voice behind your organization. People on Twitter and Facebook want to engage with real people, not a brand. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are two excellent examples of corporations who have real faces behind their brands on Twitter. It’s all about cultivating relationships online — people see beyond a flashy brand name quickly and want to put a name to the logo.

Define how social media matters to your organization. What do you want to use it for? Marketing? Fundraising? Internal communication? Collaboration? Hopefully, you’ll be able to combine your social media efforts to include all of those, as well as any more uses your group finds beneficial.

Mashable has compiled a list of 10 Must-Haves For Your Social Media Policy, and each one is dead-on.

My rule of thumb? I never post anything if I wouldn’t want my mom to see or read it.