Well hopefully that title got you to read this post. I know that this statement is true, but it is always nice to get validation from external resources to back me up. A few months ago, Marketing General came out with the 2010 Association Benchmark Survey. In it they surveyed over 400 associations and there were a couple of findings that back me up on my point:

"While Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the most commonly used social media tools, they are not necessarily considered the most effective in reaching membership goals by association executives. In fact, the most effective social networking tools are considered to be those that are basically housed within the association itself, namely the association listserv (50%) and/or a private association social network (39%)."

"…and those organizations who have a private social network are 28% more likely to report growth in membership compared to the average association. While groups that use LinkedIn are 13% more likely to report a decline in membership numbers."

-2010 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report

I guess keeping the member benefit of networking and communication a member benefit is a good idea.