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.