Last week I was at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Exchange running a session on the benefits of social media for membership organisations.

As I sat down to write my workshop, it struck me that with technology now enabling people to organise themselves, trade associations and other membership bodies have got a real challenge on their hands to prove their continued value to members.

If I can network online with thousands of people interested in the same things as me, for free, why do I need to pay a membership fee to someone to do this for me? In fact, maybe the whole concept of a membership organisation is now a bit outdated.

But perhaps this is slightly missing the point?

While social media undoubtedly enables crowds of people to organise themselves in ways not possible before the current digital era, online communities still need to be shaped and energised in the same way as debates are shaped in the traditional media world.

Within any online community there are some members who are more active than others: there are those who generate content, those who are always commenting and shaping the direction the community grows in, as well as those who just lurk in the background and watch.

Furthermore, as the sheer volume of content we are all trying to wade through continues to grow, there is a real value to organisations who can review, sift and aggregate the best content for its members.

Trade associations, with their collective insight and experiences, are perfectly positioned to play these leading roles within social networking sites. By harnessing their existing grasp of industry issues and translating their offline relationships into online partnerships, trade associations can become facilitators of online conversations and aggregators of information that members can continue to benefit from.