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Social networking sites like LinkedIn can represent a threat to professional associations. But, embraced in the right way, social networking can rejuvenate your association, increasing its membership, power and influence.
Why do people join professional associations?
Some professionals have to join an association in order to practise. But, for most people, it’s a choice. Why do they do it? Here are some possible reasons:
- Advance their career
- Tap into a broader knowledge base
- Influence professional policy and direction
- Lobby government
- Maintain professional standards
- Lift public awareness and appreciation
- Socialise with like-minded people.
Why do you think most people continue to pay that annual subscription?
There’s no “i” in team – but there’s a “me” in member
Let’s be brutally honest here. Most people will think that reasons “2” through “6″ are good, worthy and laudable. But they also know the association will do those things whether they’re a member or not. Most people do not join a professional association for the greater good. The question most will ask is, “What’s in it for me?”. And the answer is primarily “1” with a possible dash of “7”.
Most people join professional associations to advance their careers and mix with “people like us”.
Why social networking threatens professional associations
If the threat is true, then associations are in big trouble – because social networking sites let them do the same things more cheaply and more effectively. From the comfort of your own home or office, social networking sites let you:
- stay in touch with professionals you know
- make contact with professionals you’d like to know
- get answers
- participate in discussions
- raise your profile
- learn about events
- keep your finger on the professional pulse.
No wonder they’ve taken off. Professional associations can’t stop this. They can’t beat it. But they sure can join it.
What professional associations can bring to social networking
Professionals are already taking advantage of social networking but in an ad hoc way – by creating a group on a mass social network such as LinkedIn or similar. This fulfils some of their needs – but it’s fragmenting the power of your professional community because:
- Not everyone knows about the group
- Not everyone’s a member of the group
- The group doesn’t have any real authority.
That’s what professional associations can bring to social networking:
- Universal professional awareness
- The power of comprehensive membership
- The authority of your association’s brand.
How social networking can empower professional associations
Just as social networking can benefit from the participation of professional associations, those associations can be reinvigorated by social networking. They allow you to:
- facilitate greater member interaction
- communicate more easily with members
- appeal to younger members
- encourage event attendance
- stimulate debate
- canvass opinions
- unify a geographically disparate membership.
The right social networking for professional associations
Not every social networking site is suitable for professional associations. You want a site that allows you to:
- have strong association branding
- restrict membership to qualified, suitable individuals
- control who sees members’ details and contacts
- maintain professional standards in member forums
- participate in ad revenue.
We know of only one social networking site that satisfies all those requirements. But modesty prevents us from naming it.
Related topics
5 reasons professionals aren’t social networking (and what will turn the tide)
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